
o > tQ ft S^ ?j^^^^»-^- 



CANNELTON, 



P£RRY COUNTY, IND., 



AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE EASTERN MARGIN OF THE 




ILLINOIS COAL BASIN, 



! I 



OHIO RIVER 



ITS NATURAL ADVANTAGES AS A SITE FOE 



MANUFAJTUEING 



|)tTblt0l}ct» b^ tl]c ^mfttcan (Hatinel (Eoal (IIoin|3ang, 



i 



LOUISVILLE: 

PE.TNTED AT THE JOUR.NAL OFFICE. 
185 0. 



m 




Class VsiA 

Book ^^S6 



CANNELTON, 



PERRY COUNTY, IND., 



AT THE INTERSECTION OF THE EASTEEN MABGIN OF THE 



ILLINOIS COAL BASIN, 



OHIO RIVER; 



ITS NATURAL ADVANTAGES AS A SITE FOR 



M ANTJF ACTUBING. 



/l C!i>nu4^f^* S4^i<a:^ 



|)ublt0l]cb bg \\)t ^nteruan (Hatiml Coal Company, 



U.S. A, . )) 



LOUISVILLE: 

PRINTEp AT THE JOUR.NAL OFFICE. 

18 5 0. 



4 






Louisville, May 1, 1850, 
.Sir: I am instructed by the Board of Directors of the American CanneJ 
Coal Company to request you to collect and prepare for publication the most 
important of your articles on the advantages for manufacturing the great sta- 
ples of the South and West at the coal beds on the Lower Ohio, and to add 
thereto the special claims of Cannei.ton to the attention of capitalists, mechan- 
ics and manufacturers. STEPHEN H. LONG, 

Pres. A. C. C. Co. 
To Hamilton Smith, Esq., Louisville. 



Louisville. May 20, 1850. 

Sik: In accordance with the request of the Directors of the A. C. C. Co., 
1 have collected and arranged for publication the accompanying papers on the 
subject of Western manufactures, and on the importance of the coal measures 
of the central West. I have added thereto copies of the charters for manu- 
lacturing purposes at Cannelton, and the reports and letters of geologists, 
engineers, and others, in reference to the peculiar advantages of that point for 
manufacturing. 

Injustice to myself, I remark, that most of these paj)ers were written hastily 
jiud at intervals; that I had no practical knowledge in any department of man- 
ufacturing, and that I found great difficulty in obtaining from abroad all the da- 
ta from which we might calculate the advantages of our own position. There- 
are some slight discrepances in the data used. These were obtained at differ- 
ent limes and from different sources, and changes have been of constant occur- 
rence. I have not the leisure to make a new series of calculations on the fact.'* 
as they now exist: indeed, as these are sutgect to further change, the labor of 
correction would be almost useless. 

The business of manufacturing in this valley is comparatively new, and very 
many of the circumstances and accessories which attend, and will attend it 
are also new. Some of these we may now regard as too important, while 
we attach too little importance to others. All that we should do now is to gath- 
er and publish all the facts within our reach, that bear, or seem to bear on 
the subject, and leave the correction of our errors and the elaboration of sys- 
tematic treatises to those who follow and who will have the te.sts of experience 
;uid the opportunities for comparison. 

Very respectfully, yonr ob"t serv't, 

HAMILTON SMITH. 
To Col. Stephen H. Long, Louisville, Ky., 

President of the Am. Can. Coal Company. 



CIRCULAR 



OF THE AMERICAN C A N N E L COAL COMPANY 



May, 185 0. 

Within the last few years, the town of Cannelton, on the lower Ohio, 
has attracted much notice at home and abroad. Distinguished geolo- 
gists, civil engineers, and manufacturers have pronounced it the most 
eligible site for a manufacturing city of any now known. Some have 
predicted that it will eventually be "the great manufacturing city of the 
world." The press has favorably noticed the place and the enterprises 
there in progress, and the public mind seems to regard the whole move- 
ment as legitimate and in the hands of those who are making permanent 
investments and not a fancy stock. 

This site naturally embraces an area of perhaps ten miles square, and 
fronts Deer creek on the east, Anderson river on the west, and the Ohio 
river on the south. Of this area of 64,000 acres, probably over 
10,000 acres are alluvial, and of a grade towards the river sufficiently 
easy to be eligible sites for mills and work shops. Nearly the Avhole of 
this is above ordinary floods, and the larger portion is never covered 
with water. The remaining portion of this area is chiefly in ridges of 
from fifty to several thousand acres, rising from 50 to 300 feet above the 
plane of high water. These are covered with a luxuriant growth of the 
most valuable timber, and are filled with strata of bituminous and can- 
nel coal, building stone, fire and whetstone, fire-clay or potters' marie, 
which are convenient of access and are worked horizontally with ease 
and safety. 

A full examination of geological charts, and mining and manufactur- 
ing statistics warrant the opinion that this site, in natural advantages 
for manufacturing, is unsurpassed and perhaps unequalled. 

Cannelton now presents the most prominent position on this site. 
]t is nearly in the center of the front, and, by its facilities of access 
10 the coal and minerals through the valleys of Dozier and Castleberry 
it will probably retain its relative position. The stockholders of 
the American Cannel Coal Company, whose large property lies in and 
contiguous to Cannelton, are now so often called upon for information 



in reference to their operations at Cannelton, that the Directors deem it 
advisable to present to the public, not only a full description of the 
place and its improvements, but the leading facts and arguments on 
which its claims to importance rest. 



Louisville, Ky, 



The Directors are STEPHEN H. LONG, 

WILLIAM RICHARDSON, 
HAMILTON SMITH, 
JAMES C. FORD, 
HENRY A. GRISWOLD, I 
E. HUTCHINGS, J 

JAMES BOYD, Can7ielton. 
MAUNSEL WHITE, New Orleans. 
CHARLES T. JAMES, Providence, R. 1. 

The Officers are STEPHEN H. LONG, President. 

HENRY A. GRISWOLD, Secretary. 
WILLIS RANNEY, Treasurer. 



The inquiries of mechanics, manufacturers and capitalists, relative to 
Cannelton are as to 

1 . The healthiness of its site; 

2. The purity and supply of water for household and manufacturing 
purposes; 

3. The character and cost of fuel and building materials; 

4. The cost and means of obtaining an ample supply of food; 

5. The facilities of intercommunication; 

6. The price of lots in the town, and of lands in the vicinity; 

7. The amount of State and local taxes; 

8. The advantages for educating children, and the opportunities of 
enjoying religious privileges; 

9. The character of the works already in progress, the demand for 
labor, and the chances, probabilities or certainties of a rapid increase of 
population and appreciation of property; 

10. The opportunities of making advantageous investments in and 
near Cannelton; 

11. The branches of business most appropriate to the place, and 
which would be most likely to yield the largest profits. 

1. The healthiness of the site, — Coal districts are proverbially 
healthy. This is considered peculiarly so. The drainage is natural 
and rapid. The small streams that penetrate the hills are confined to 



narrow channels and run over rocky beds. The nearest low and wei 
lands are at some distance, on the other side of the river, and opposite 
the direction of the prevalent summer winds. 

The free use of bituminous coal, as is believed, has a decided tenden- 
cy to neutralize malaria. 

The miners are remarkable for good health, and the rosy looks ol 
their children in the schools afford the most conclusive evidence of the 
healthiness of their homes. 

Prior to the commencement of the cotton mill, the statistics of mor- 
tality here compared favorably with those of the most healthy sections 
of the country. Such, however, has been the influx of ordinary labor- 
ers for the last year, and so insufficient have been the means of accom- 
modation, that many cases of sickness have been the result of crowded 
apartments and careless, intemperate habits. 

The company has done all in its power to provide shelter and en- 
force sanatory rules; yet it has been found exceedingly difficult to in- 
duce the lower classes of laborers and emigrants to avoid exposure and 
to pay the proper attention to diet and cleanliness. 

At the lower part of the town there were a k\v cases of fever and 
ague during last summer. The causes of these, however, were tempo- 
rary and are being removed. 

At a few positions on Deer creek and Anderson river, it will be un- 
safe to locate residences until the lands have been cleared and the decay- 
ing vegetable matter has been removed. 

2. The purity and supply of watee for domestic and man- 
ufacturing PURPOSES. — The permanent springs on the hill sides are 
sufficient in permanency and volume, for ordinary domestic and stock 
purposes. Wells sunk below the sandstone affi)rd an abundant supply 
of soft water. On the first and second banks of the river the wells are 
sunk into a thick stratum of gravel, through which the river water rapid- 
ly passes and is perfectly filtrated. These wells rise and fall with, and 
are as inexhaustible as the river. 

It is supposed that wells sunk below the sandstone will furnish an 
abundant supply to paper and other mills that require pure and soft 
water. 

On the hill back of the town, is a natural site for a reservoir, 250 feet 
above high water, and about 800 yards from the river bank, and 
the company intend to establish water works as soon as the number 
of inhabitants will justify the cost. From the natural convenience 

1* 



6 

of the site referred to and the low cost of power, the Cannelton hydrant? 
can be supplied at very low rates. 

About a mile from the town, in the valley of Castleberry creek, is a 
spring of mineral water, resembling that at the Grayson springs of Ken- 
tucky which are under the coal formation. This spring is a place of 
healthy and agreeable resort in the summer, and the company are now 
improving the grounds around it. 

On this margin of the coal series, and north of Cannelton, are many 
sulphur and chalybeate springs, said to equal those of Virginia. It is 
quite probable that the same v/ill be found in Perry county. 

3. The supply, charactee, and cost of fuel and building 
MATERIALS. — Foi thc facts On these points reference is made to tiie 
opinions and statements of Dr. Jackson, Dr. Hal],, Prof. Johnson, and 
of Messrs. Lawrence, Ridgeway, Eastin, McGregor and others, in the 
appendix. In the report of Dr. D. Dale Owen to the Legislature of 
Indiana, are full statements of the topographical and geological features 
of this coal series. The outlines of this have been mapped out by him 
and adopted by Prof. Lyell and other eminent geologists. The margin 
of this series may be seen on the outline map fronting page 60 of the 
appendix. 

It is, therefore, assumed that these strata of sandstones, clays, coal, 
and perhaps iron-stone, extend, on the same plane, from the Ohio river 
at Cannelton, ^s far north, at least, as the Wabash river above Coal 
creek, and that they are to be found in every intermediate part of the 
line except where they have been washed out by the action of water on 
the surface. 

On the property of the company, the lower stratum of coal has been 
opened and worked in three separate ridges; openings that have been 
made in more remote localities, show thicker and purer coal, which, 
however, will not be worked until access to it has been made by the 
working out of chambers and drifts in front and on the same plane. 

It is supposed that, from the openings on the western front of the 
property of the company, the "adit levels" would run northwaidly along 
the coal stratum, and without a break for fifteen miles, where they would 
be cut by one of the forks of Anderson river, and where the coal and 
snperincumbent sandstone distinctly "ciops out." These adit levels and 
the coal chambers on either side could be ventilated by shafts rising at 
proper intervals from 50 to 300 feet above the floor. 

When it is remembered that each square mile of this section will 



7 

yield over ojie hundred millions of bushels of coal, and that Cincin- 
nati, with her 125,000 population, consumes only about six millions oi 
bushels yearly, it will be admitted that Cannelton has a supply of fuel 
and motive power for a very large population and for centuries. 

This abundance of coal will, of course, insure low prices. The only 
advantage possessed by the company is the convenient and self drain- 
ing position of its coal strata. An advance of two cents, and perhaps 
of one cent per bushel would draw an instant and ample supply from 
the same strata below the water level, from Anderson river, and perhaps 
from the opposite side of the Ohio. 

It is clear, therefore, that the company cannot have a monopoly of 
this article of prime necessity, and that, even if it had a monopoly, the 
inexhaustible supply would enable the company, by low prices, to attract 
population and thus increase the demand for coal and stone and the value 
of the surface property. 

The present rate of "coal leave" is one cent per bushel, and for 
stone, when taken abroad, 10 cents per perch. For buildings on prop- 
erty purchased of the company no charge has yet been made for stone, 
clay or timber. For extensive manufacturing establishments the rent of 
and credit for coal would defend on the circumstances of each case. 
To the Cannelton Cotton Mill an extensive site and coal rent free for 15 
years were given by the company. The general rule has been to ofFfer 
to the first concern in each department of manufacturing, a bonus, in 
site and coal, equivalent to the presumed extra cost of starting the busi- 
ness at a new place. 

4. The cost and means of obtaining an ample supply ok 
FOOD. — The Cannelton markets have been and for some time will be 
limited in variety, compared with the markets of Cincinnati and 
Louisville. A full supply, however, is sure to meet the demand. 
Many acres around the town have this year been put in garden cultiva- 
tion, and the farmers, for an hundred miles back, are now looking to 
that market for customers. There will, perhaps, be no other good mar- 
ket for a circle of fifty miles around it. The average prices for a se- 
ries of years of the chief articles of subsistence will be, say, 

Cora. 20 to 30 cents per bushel. 

Potatoes, ....... 25 " 40 " " •• 

Beef, Pork and Mutton, 3 " 6 " " lb. 

Butter, 10 " 20 " " - 

Poultr)% - . . 5 « 10 " " 

Game. 3 " G '• • •• 

Eggs, 4 " 12 '• '^ doz. 

Flour, about $4 50 " barret. 



8 

This is an higher average than the prices at the Western markets for 
the last ten years, and there are many reasons why we may expect them 
to be reduced. 

There are, within 6 miles of Cannelton, and on both sides of the 
river, at least 12,000 acres of the richest alluvial land, and a cheap and 
abundant supply of vegetables, milk, and fresh meat may be reckoned 
upon with certainty. 

The supply from abroad may be estimated from the facts stated under 
the next head. 

6. The facilities of intercommunication. — A very slight examin- 
ation of the physical features of the Mississippi valley and of the statis- 
tics of its exchangeable products will show the immensity of the com- 
merce that must exist between the mouth of the Green river and the 
Falls of the Ohio. Aheady an average of about 15 steamboats pass 
every point of this space daily, to and from remote districts. There are 
lines of packets from cities on the upper Ohio to New Orleans and St. 
Louis — from Louisville to towns on the Green, Cumberland, Tennessee 
and Wabash rivers. The slack water improvements of the Green river 
have connected us with nearly the half of Kentucky; the completion 
of the Nashville railroad and the improvements on the Cumberland riv- 
er will give us cheap access to the southeastern seaboard, and the locks 
at the Falls of the Wabash have opened to us the rich fields of northern 
Indiana and Illinois. This year many cargoes of wheat, corn, oats and 
other articles of food from the upper Wabash have passed by Cannelton 
on their way to the cities and towns on the upper Ohio, and we have 
arrested some of the pine lumber shipped to Louisville from the loot of 
Muscle Shoals on the Tennessee. Of the steam packets that constant- 
ly take in coal at Cannelton, those from St. Louis are freighted witli 
pig iron, lead, grain, flour, hemp, and hides; those from the lower i\lis- 
sissippi, with cotton, sugar, groceries, fruits and dry goods; from Flor- 
ence, with cotton, pig iron and lumber; from Nashville, with cotton, pig 
iron and tobacco; from Little Rock, with cotton and peltries; from 
Bowling-Green, with tobacco, grain, corn, fruits and vegetables for the 
Louisville markets: from Terre Haute and Lafaj'ette, Beardstown and 
Peoria, with provisions and bread-stuffs; while the return freights of these 
packets are, to a great extent, the products of this cotton, pig iron and 
food, combined and compressed by the Virginia and Pennsylvania coal. 

The natural facilities of access to the country immediately back of 
this site are considerable. The mouth of Anderson river is the com- 



9 

manding point for the counties of Spencer, Perry, Dubois, Daviess and 
Martin; and the rich counties of Green, Owen, Putnam and Montgom- 
cry are nearer this point than to Madison, New Albany or Evansville. 
The valley of Anderson runs north for about twenty-five miles; at thirty 
miles is the fertile valley of the Patoka; at thirty five miles is the South 
Fork of White river; in a north-westerly direction Vincennes is reached 
at a distance of 50 miles and by an easy route that crosses the White 
river and the Ohio and Erie canal. The State road to Greencastle will 
run nearly north. From Orleans, a point on tlie New Albany and 
Salem Railroad, Troy is about the same distance as New Albany. 

The natural route of the roailroad pointed out in the article on p. 60 
from the Am. R. R. Jour., is nearly north, and will intersect the roads 
from the Wabash running eastward] y. 

Thus it is apparent that Cannelton is very favorably situated in re- 
spect, to an abundant and cheap supply of food, and in facilities of in- 
tercommunication. 

6. The price of lots in the town and of land in its vicin- 
ity. — Prices of lots and of land depend on position. The best lots are 
now selling at from $5 to $7 the front foot. The prices range from $7 
to 50 cents, and the lots are generally from 100 to 121 feet in depth. 
The company will not sell lots except on condition of improvement 
within a limited time. Lots in the vicinity, of not over 10 acres are 
offered for sale on the same conditions as to improvements. The prices 
will be governed by position and the character of improvements stipulated 
for. To those who wish places for mills and work-shops, the company 
is disposed to afford the most eligible sites on the most liberal terms. 

Land adjacent to that of the company, is rated at from $40 to $3 
per acre; and within 10 miles and back of the town are lands yet unsold 
by government that can be had at $1 25 per acre. 

7. State and local taxes. — The State, County and Road taxes 
in Indiana average about i per cent on the actual value of property. 
The public schools are chiefly supported by interest on proceeds of 
sales of school lands. 

The taxes for all purposes are not likely to exceed i of 1 per cent. 

8. The means of education, and opportunities of enjoyij^g 
religious privileges. — The company give two lots for church and 
parsonage to each religious society, and a lot for every educational and 
public purpose. It will also erect a commodious school house during 



10 

the present year. On page 104 will be found a notice of the present 
schools and places of public worship. 

The company will do all in its power to extend the sphere of useful- 
ness of the teacher and the preacher, who are justly regarded as the 
ablest auxiliaries of the manufacturer. 

9. Character of the avorks already in progress, the demand 

FOR labor, and the PROBABILITIES OF A RAPID INCREASE OF POPU- 
LATION AND APPRECIATION OF PROPERTY. — Twclvc mouths since, the 
population of Cannelton and its vicinage was about 600, who were 
wholly supported by operations connected with the raining of about 
400,000 bushels of coal yearly for steamboat demand. 

The increase of tonnage on the western rivers, according to the report 
of the Topographical Bureau, is about 16 per cent: the increased de- 
mand for coal will exceed this ratio and call for a corresponding and 
steady increase of population. 

There are many who argue that the power of the river current is weak 
when compared with the power of steam, and that the cities at the 
Falls of the Ohio must soon be supplied with fuel from these mines. 
These cities now require about two millions of bushels per annum, and 
an additional population of from one to two thousand would be required 
here to supply one half of that demand. 

The erection of the first cotton mill and the buildings directly and 
indirectly connected with it has already added nearly one thousand per- 
manent residents to Cannelton. The operatives of that mill, say 300, 
are yet to come. These, with their families and dependants, may reason- 
ably be estimated at over another thousand. The Indiana mill, the 
foundry, and the saw, flour and planing mills, will give a further de- 
mand for and support to labor. The grading of a wharf, opening of 
streets, and other contemplated improvements of the company; the 
making of a plank road to Troy (already commenced); the manufacture 
of fire-brick, and the working of stone for foreign demand, give promise 
of operations capable of almost indefinite expansion: while the great 
natural advantages here for almost every kind of manufactures author- 
ize the expectation of a rapid and steady increase of population and 
appreciation of land in the town and its vicinity, 

10. The OPPORTUNITIES OFFERED FOR MAKING ADVANTAGEOUS 

INVEST.V1ENTS IN AND NEAR CANNELTON. — To men of Small mcans, 
who wish to occupy the land they own, it is doubted whether better 
investments can be made than in lots in the town at present prices, or 



11 

in small holdings in the vicinity. The company specially desire the 
prosperity of those who buy and settle on portions of iheir property. 
It offers lots and lands at village rates and with but little reference to 
the extended operations alluded to. If but a tenth or hundredth part of 
the expectations of the company are realized, they who purchase lots or 
lands now will be satisfied with their investments; and, should Cannel- 
ton increase in population and wealth as accessible coal districts always 
have increased, such investments will result in immense profit. 

At ilje little towns now being laid ofl' from three to eight miles around 
Cincinnati, lots sell from 3 to 10 dollars the front foot, while lands (hill 
sides) believed not to equal ours in quality and position, and at the same 
distance from that city, sell at about $250 per acre for the cultivation 
'if the grape. 

The vinedressers around Cannelton can find good markets for their 
products and a demand for their surplus female labor in the mills. In 
the opinion of Mr. Longworth, the climate and soil of this district are 
peculiarly favorable to this branch of industry. 

The lands back of the property of the company and between 
Anderson river and Deer creek, are rich in minerals which eventually 
will be in demand, and the sources of great wealth. Mineral lands in 
England, Belgium and Germany, intrinsically inferior to these, sell for 
thousands of dollars the acre, and without reference to the surface. 
Even in the recesses of the Alleghany mountains coal lands, not supe- 
rior to these, are now valued at immense prices. 

Opposite the property of the company, and in Kentucky, both on the 
river banks and at the sides of the coal hills, are many eligible sites for 
mills, and '-'coal leave" can be had there at very low rates; while above 
and below Hawsville are large bodies of very rich alluvial lands, now 
held at low prices — very low, Vv-hen compared with the prices of equiv- 
alent land on the upper Ohio. 

11. The beanches of business most appropriate to the 
place, and which would be most likely to yield the largest 
PROFITS. — In the first part of the appendix will be found the statistics 
and detailed estimates in reference to the great advantages of this posi- 
tion for the manufacture of the lower grades of cotton cloth. The same 
statistics, in connection with others that are well known, will show the 
manufacturer of wool and iron \^hat advantages he would find in this 
district. 

The southern and Western border market now calls for immense 



12 

supplies of cotton, wool, iron and wood fabrics. Here, then, is evidently 

a most favorable point to make blankets for the Indians, osna burgs for 

the negroes, plows and wagons for the planters, axes and scythes for the 

farmers, sheetings and shirtings, coarse articles of hardware, cheap furni' 

ture, glass and pottery, and the thousand articles of common use in an 

agricultural country, that will not bear distant transportation; that can 

be made out of our own materials by the use of our own power, where 

labor bears a small proportion to the cost of material and transportation, 

and yet is of more importance than capital. 

In the recent trial before the Supreme Court of the United States, in 

the case of the State of Pennsylvania vs. Wheeling Bridge Co., it was 

proved: 

"That, in consequence of the modificalion of the Enghsh navigation laws, 
and from other causes, the business of ship building has been revived at Pitts- 
burg with great success. Five or six government vessels, cutters, and war- 
steamers, have been built there within five years and floated with their masts 
to the ocean. Many sea-going vessels are now being built there, and New 
York capital has gone there in large amounts for this purpose. That, in con- 
sequence of the greater cheujmess of timler, iron, coal ovd lalor, svch vessels arc 
built there at 20 per cent less cost than on the seuhourd. That, the timber is suit- 
able for the purpose, and that the great abundance of hitiiminons coal gave that 
city great advantages for working in iron and other materials suitable for ship 
building." 

At Cannelton the coal is equally abundant, the iron and hemp for 
cordage are nearer; the important obstructions to the river navigation 
are above, and the timber is equally good and abundant. It is confi- 
dently believed that the peculiar advantages of Cannelton for this busi- 
ness in all its departments, will soon be appreciated and fully developed. 
No good reason can be given why vessels built here should not take the 
surplus goods (if a surplus should be made here) direct to the Brazilian 
and India markets. 



It is strongly recommended that families should not be taken to Cannelton 
until proper accommodations have been secured. From one to two hundred 
tenements have been and will be erected this year besides a Hotel of the 
largest class; yet nearly all are full or engaged. 

The agent of the company will, on application by letter or otherwise, an- 
swer all inquiries on this subject, and do all in his power to secure suitable 
dwellings for emigrants. He will also, if requested, select lots and make con- 
tracts for buildings on as low terms as can be had. 

The lots of the company have a fixed price, and the tetms of payment, for 
the present, are one-fifth cash, and the balance in 1, 2, 3 and 4 years, with in- 
terest. The improvements stipulated for depend on the position of the lots. 



APPENDIX. 



BELATIV£ COST OF STEAM AND WATER POWER FOR MANUFACTURING 

PURPOSES. 

We call attention to this instructive and valuable paper, promising to continue 
the subject hereafter. The author is a practical man, and his views have been 
fully indorsed in the highest quarters. The question of our ability to compete 
witlj the (last in the manufacture of cottons, turns very much upon the proposi- 
tion here discussed. If steaui power hfrc, is cheaper aud better than water 
power there, it must at once be admitted, the chief seat of cotton manufacture 
will, eventually, be over an J near our central coal fields. — Editor of Com.Revieic. 

While we discuss this subject, let it be borne in mind, that water 
power, like all other things which exist in fixed quantities, must ever be. 
circumscribed within the limits prescribed by the Creator. Hence, each 
quantum of water power, applied to practical purposes, reduces by so 
much the quant ty to be appropriated. U'he consequence is, as one 
mill site is occupied after another, water power is increased in its mar- 
ket value, because, unli.<e articles which are the production of human 
art and industrial efforts, the quantity cannot be increased with the in- 
creased demand. With steam power, where fuel is abundant, the ca.'^e 
is precisely the reverse. 

Steam engines, of any given power, may always be had to order, at 
any de.signated spot. No matter how rapidly you may multiply them, 
the supply will equal the demand. The materials for their construction 
cannot be exhausted, and human art and labor will ever be cdeqiiate (o 
our wants. Under these circumstances alone, steam power would not 
be likely to increase in cost. But there is another very important con- 
.<?ideration to be taken into the account. The steam engine undergoes 
continual improvement. The modificaiions of its form and structure, 
have for their objects perfection in action and economy in fuel. Vast 
strides have already been made in this work of improvement. This per- 
fection is still increasing, and no one can predict, with certainty, how 
much more will yet be done, nor in how short a space of time, towards 
perfecting that useful and truly wonderf 1 invention. All such improve- 
ments serve to reduce the cost of steam power, by reducing the quantity 
of fuel and labor necessary to a given result, while, at the same timt;, 

2 



14 

they increase i(s productive value, by rendering the steam engine more 
simple, more durable and efficient, as well as reducing its cost. Thus, 
all these causes combined very much diminish the cost of steam power, 
while that of water has increased; and the causes which have produced 
these results thus far, will still continue to operate. These facts are 
now beginning to be understood. Hence, steam power is gradually tak- 
ing the place of water power. 

To operate large manufactories, or other extensive works, to advan- 
tage, the motive power must, be, not only ample, but also infallible; and 
therefore, it becomes necessary to place them, if to be driven by water 
power, on streams having a great volume of water, with a rapid current 
and a great fall. Of such streams there are very few in the West — the 
best, perhaps, being at Beaver, Pennsylvania, and at the Muscle Shoals^ 
Tennessee. Most of the rivers on the eastern slope of the Alleghanies, 
are short and comparatively dry in summer. Even in New England, 
many corporations have found it necessary to purchase lands, and to 
construct reservoirs on them to contain water, to drive their mills in dry 
seasons, and which has been done at a heavy expense. The eastern 
mountains and hills aie so steep, that the water passes rapidly from 
them to the sea; and, in the spring of the year, when the snow melts 
and the ice breaks up, and heavy rains fall, the force of the flood sweeps 
before it all ordinary obstructions. To withstand this almost resistless 
force, dams and locks must be of great strength, and consequently of 
great cost. The mills are, also, if practicable, placed at a distance 
from the river banks, and the water conveyed to them through canals. 
The falls, too, are on rocky formations, and, in general, at the goiges of 
hills — and which makes excavations, for canals^ roads, sites for build- 
ings, &c., &c., very expensive. The operations of mills, situated near 
the tide water, are frequently suspended by means of the floods or fresh- 
ets above spoken of. Probably, Lowell is more nearly exempt frora 
this diflicully, than Dover, New Market, Salmon Falls, and many 
o'Jier manufacturing places in New England; yet Mr. Miles, in his His- 
tory of Lowell, says, eighteen of the twenty-seven cotton mills in the 
ciiy are situated on the river side, and once or twice each year are ob- 
liged to suspend part of their works, sometimes for days together, in 
consequence of back water. Occasionally, the ice carries the dam 
away, or breaks the water-wheel. In such cases, the pay of the opera- 
tives goes on, or a higher price is, for a time, put on the work. To 
estimate the loss, per diem, resulting to a company from suspension of 
its works, I give some of the statistics of the Merrimack mill. This 
mill has a capita! of $2,000,000, and employs 1,737 operatives, at a 
cost of, say, $210,000 per annum. Interest on the capital, $120,000; 
making $360,000 per annum, or nearly $1,000 per diem, would be 
the lo.ss, by the suspension of a single day, aside from the inconvenience. 
Atmin, the water-wheels must not be exposed to the frost, but inclosed 
tn masonry — often in excavations in solid rock. Mills, driven by 
steam, are subject to none of these casualties, nor to the losses and ex- 
penses orisjinaling in them. Water power may be purcha.sed, in other 
parts of New England, at a rate, nominally, cheaper than at Lowell; 



15 

yet, taking all the local advantages into the account, it is, in reality, as 
cheap there as at any other place. The present cost of water power, at 
Lowell, is at the rate of five dollars per spindle. Nearly all the wa- 
terfalls in New England, are at considerable distances above the head 
of navigation; and tlie estimate is within the truth, when I give the dis- 
tance from Boston to Lowell (tvventy-six miles) as the average distance 
of the New England factory, from the point where its cotton is landed, 
and the depot of its goods; both of which are transported, either on rail- 
roads or in wagons. From Boston to Lowell, the cost of transporta- 
tion is $L25, and $L10, per ton. But, according to Doggeit's Rail- 
road Register, the average cost on cotton and dry goods, between Bos- 
ton and sixteen of the most important manufacturing towns that receive 
cotton through that city, and send their goods to it for sale, is $2.75 
per ton. This is about the average price of such freight, per steamboat, 
between Louisville and points three hundred miles distant from that 
eity. If, as will be shown hereafter, a very large portion of this heavy 
expenditure for land transportation can be avoided, by the use of steam 
as a motive power, the advantages will become self-evident. The 
amount of this expenditure is nearly as follows: A cotton mill, of 
10,01)0 spindles, will turn off two and a half tons, per day, of cloth 
No. 14 — say seven hundred and fifty tons per annum. One hundred 
pounds of cotton, will make eighty-nine of cloth; hence, seven hun- 
dred and fifty tons of cloth, will require for its manufacture about eight 
hundred and forty tons of cotton. This quantity of cloth and cotton, 
say about sixteen hundred tons in all, will cost, for transportation, 
$4,320, at $2.75 per ton, to say nothing of drayage, no inconsiderable 
item of itself. Besides these, is also the transportation of other heavy 
articles sjch as oil, slarch, iron to replace broken and worn out ma- 
chinery, coal to heat the mill, &c., &c., all in very considerable quan. 
titles and adding much to the cost. 

The foregoing are some of the difficulties and drawbacks, though not 
all, connected with, or growing out of, the use of water power; and we 
will now proceed to state, on the other hand, some of the advantages 
derived from the use of steam power. On this subject, we will cite the 
results of practical operations, of very recent date, and state facts in 
which there can be no mistake. 

The Naumkeag steam cotton mill, at Salem, Massachusetts, is a new 
establishment, containing about 31,000 spindles. It is the largest cot- 
ton mill in America, and the largest in the world in which the entire 
process of converting cotton into cloth is carried on under one roof. 
This mill was put into full operation in the month of January, 1847. 
The following is an abstract from the annual report, made to the Presi- 
dent and Directors of the corporation, under date of January 19, 1848: 
"In the former annual report, the estimated cost of steam, to drive the 
machinery and to heat the mill, offices, &c., was $11,420 per annum, 
including cost of oil, engineer, and firemen. Subsequently, in the 
actual working of the engine and machinery, experience has afforded 
satisfactory proof, that the sum stated will be amply sufficient to cover 
ibe entire cost. After having run the engine and machinery a suffi. 



16 

cient length of time to become certain that there was no mistake in tha 
foregoing statement, it was determined to make an experiment, to ascer- 
tain precisely the amount of fuel consumed per day. Accordingly, on 
Tuesday, (yesterday,) the 18th instant, with all the machinery at work, 
the trial was made, and the engine and machinery were driven, during 
all the working hours of the day, at full speed, with four tons and forty 
pounds of coal. It was deemed hardly possible, were not the fact 
placed absolutely beyond a doubt, that so large a quantity of machinery 
could be driven, for so long a time, by an amount of fuel so small. 
During this experiment, four of the six boilers were used to generate 
steam for the enafine, and the other two to warm the mill, offices, &c. 
By the latter experiment, it was found, that two and a quarter tons of 
coal was suflicient to generate steam, to warm the various apartments, 
and to supply the 'machine shop.' (What is here termed 'machine 
shop,' is the repair shop, which, during the experiment, was supplied 
Avith STEAM powEE, Qom the two boilers.) Hence, six and a quarter 
tons of coal will be found sufficient, per day, for all purposes for which 
steam is required. 7'he four tons and forty pounds is an offset against 
water power; as the water mill requires to be warmed as well as the 
steam mill." 

The Naumkeag mill has been in constant operation since the above 
report was made, and has fully corroborated the fact elicited by the 
experiment alluded to. We deduce from it, and from other data con- 
tained in that report, and also, from other sources, the following state- 
ments and comparisons: 

1st. Something less than 1,220 tons of coal, per annum, is sufficient 
to drive a mill of 31,000 spindles, on yarn of the fineness of No. 30. 

This, at the present price in New England, $5 per ton, 

will cost 86,100 

Wages of engineer (720,) and two firemen (600,) per 

annum, ------ 1,320 

And oil 600 



$8,020 per an. 

The water power at Lowell, for 30,000 spindles, would cost, at $5 
per spindle, §150,000. Interest on that sum, at six per cent., would be 
$9,000 per annum — or §980 per annum more than the cost of steam 
power, to drive the Naumkeag mill. In addition to the cost of the water 
pov.'er is, also, that of foundations for a mill on the river bank. The 
cost of flumes, raceways, wheel pits, water-wheels, gearing, &c., neces- 
sary to the water mill, we offset against the cost of steam engine; the 
first cost of the former, as well as that of perpetuating them, is greater 
than of the latter. The actual cost of foundations, however, on ttre river 
bank, for a mill of the capacity of the Naumkeag mill, would be, at 
least, $25,000 more than that for a steam mill, of the same size, on a 
spot favorable to the purpose. The annual interest, on this difference, 
would be $1,500, and which makes up a balance of more than $2,500 
in favor of steam power. And to this is to be added the cost of trana- 



17 

portatlon, provided the steam mill be located in the immediate vicinity 
of navigable waters. 

We have said a mill of 10,000 spindles would manufacture 750 tons 
of cloth per annum, and to do it, work up 840 tons of cotton; of course 
■a mill with 30,000 spindles would work up 2,520 tons of cotton, and 
turn off 2.250 tons of cloth, No. 14. To a mill at Lowell, this cotton 
must be transported by land from Boston, and from the mill the cloth 
must be returned to Boston. Here, then, is railroad transportation of 
4,770 tons per annum, which, at $1,25 per ton, the established rate, 
produces the sum of $5,962, and which, added to the foregoing items 
of cost of water, and its incidental expenses, would make an aggregate 
of some $11,000 — and leave a balance of nearly $4,000 in favor of 
steam power. Besides this, as before stated, the transportation of articles 
such as oil, starch, iron, &c., is a heavy item — its gross amount would 
not be less than 200 tons per annum, which, at $1.25 per ton, would 
eost $250, and of coal for heating the mill, say 400 tons, the quantity 
used at the Naumkeag mill, would be $500, making in all $750. 

Steam power is much better calculated for the manufacture ofcotton 
goods than water power. Steam power is created by art, and as long 
as the articles of fuel and water are at hand on any desired spot, thai 
power can be perpetuated. Water power, on the contrary, is a natural 
production, and can be had only where nature has placed it, and then 
its supply and perpetuity depend altogether on causes over which, as a 
general rule, human art can exercise little or no control. Water power 
must be taken as it is, and where it is. Its quantity cannot, by human 
art be increased, nor can its location be changed. The consequences 
are, the amount of operations by water power must have its maximum, 
beyond which you cannot go. Steam power is indefinite — perhaps we 
might say, infinite, in its capacity for extension; and may go on to in- 
crease as long as human art and industiy shall continue — "as long as 
wood grows, or water runs." In all cases where water pov/er is to be 
used, you must go to it with your buildings, machinery, row material, 
labor, and whatever else is required, however great the inconvenience 
may be, and however heavy the expense. Or the other hand, if you 
determine to employ steam power, you can select your spot, where all 
you require is either at hand, or can be had at the smallest expense; and, 
having completed your arrangements, you call the steam power, which 
€omes at your bidding, seats itself on a few scores of square feet, which 
you have allotted to it, and there continues during your pleasure, acting 
in obedience to your will, and increasing or diminishing as you may de- 
sire. 

Steam power is much better adapted to the manufacture of cotton 
goods than water powor, in respect to their quality, and, consequently, 
to their market value and ready sales. That description of goods is best, 
and commands the highest prices and most ready sale, which presents 
the smoothest surface, and the most firm and even texture. That de- 
scription of cloth is decidedly the best. To produce this superiority, 
the quality of the raw material being equal to that of others, a certain 

degree of temperature an i humidity of the atmosphere is indispensable 

o * 



in the manufacturing departments. In addition to this, there is also 
required a moving power, equable and uniform, and at all times per- 
fectly under control. The temperature of a water mill may be partially 
regulated by means of a dry heat, so called, from stoves or furnaces; 
but not the humidity of the atmosphere: this is to be done only by the 
use of steam. A water mill, it is true, may be furnished v/ith a steam 
apparatus to produce this effect, but it must be at a heavy additional 
expense, which would neutralize its benefits; Vvhile the steam mill 
already has the apparatus, which will warm and dry or naoisten the at- 
mosphere of the mill at a trifling cost. 

Besides this, it is impossible to insure with water power, that equable 
and uniform motion, so essential to manufacturing purpo.ses, at all times 
to be had from a good steam engine. 

The foregoing statements and remarks, as far as they relate to the 
cost of steam and water power, are based on the results of actual expe- 
rience in New England. Taking into account the facilities for steam 
power, as well as for most other elements of the manufacturing business, 
connected with a location on the lower Ohio, where that noble stream 
intersects the great coal field of Illinois, the difference in manufacturing 
there by steam, will be found immense in its favor, when compared with 
operations by means of steam or water power in New England. If, 
under all the circumstances, steam can be applied in New England to 
advantage over water power, what may not be done at the spot above 
alluded to. 

The article of fuel used in New England to generate steam for cotton 
mills, and for other manufacturing purposes in general, is that species 
of anthracite coal of Pennsylvania, termed Lackawana. This coal 
costs the consume) five dollars per ton, at the port of delivery. The 
quantity of this coal used at the Naumkeag mill, for all purposes, say, 
to drive the machinery and to heat the mill and offices, &c., during six 
months in winter, and driving the machinery during the balance of the 
year, would be 1,875 tons, allowing four and a half tons per day to 
drive the mill, and two tons per day in winter to warm it, and for all 
other purposes. At five dollars per ton, this quantity would cost 
q^9,375. 

At Cannelton, on the lower Ohio, a superior article, pronounced by 
the first chemists in America.Uully equal to the best Cannel coal import- 
ed from England, can be had in vast abundance, at four cents per 
bushel. Allowing thirty bushels to the ton, its cost per ton at this 
rate, would be one dollar and twenty cents. Thus, the same quantity 
per annum, as above, for the Naumkeag mill, 1,875 tons, would cost 
but ^2,343— anfl less by $7,031 than it costs for the mill at Salem; 
and that mill, from the superior character and arrangement of its ma- 
chinery, equal to any in the world, probably consumes a smaller 
amount of fuel in comparison with its size than almost any other one 
in America. Let us now take for further comparison, a mill at Lowell, 
running 10,000 spindles. The water power would cost $50,000. Th« 
interest per annum on that sum would be $3,000, 



19 



Eight tons of coal, at Cannelton, nearly one-half the quan- 
tky consumed by tiie Nauaikeag mill, with 3U,U00 
spindles would cost but .... $)9G0 00 

Engine (3^700,) firemen ($300,) and oil ($300,) per an- 
num ..--.. 1,300 00 



Making tlie aggregate cost of the steam power at Cannelton, $2,200 00 

Actually less, by $740 per annum, than the interest on the first cost 
of the necessary water power at Lowell. All other things being equal, 
then the manufacturer at Cannelton, would be assured that he stood at 
least on an equal footing with him who might command the best water 
power in America; and no objection against the use of steam power in 
New England, as to ita cost, however good that objection might be 
there, would have the least bearing or eti'ect on him. But we have 
other advantages over New England, far more important even than this. 
Among these is the difference in the cost of transportation. 

A mill of 10,000 spindles will work up 850 tons of cotton per an- 
num, and turn off 750 tons of cloth — sheetings. No. 14- — averaging 2f 
yards to the pound, or something more than 4,000,000 of yards per an- 
num. To transport this cloth from Lowell to Louisville for a market, 
will cost one-half of a cent per yard. To transport the cotton used in 
its manufacture, from a southern port to Lowell, will also cost at the 
rate of one-half a cent per yard of cloth, more than its transportation 
from the planter to Louisville or Cannelton. Hence, there would be a 
difference in our favor of one cent per yard iYi the manufacture of cloth, 
for a Western or Southern market, and the difference of one half of a 
cent, even if sent to an Eastern market. The difference of one cent 
per yard on 4,000,000 yards, would amount to $40,000, which, com- 
pared with the manufactory of the East, would be saved per annum. 
This would be twenty per cent, on a capital of $200,000, to be invest- 
ed in the business. 

The materials required for the erection of buildings exist in great va- 
riety and profusion on the very spot alluded to, and labor may be had 
from 25 to 30 per cent, cheaper than in New England, in consequence 
of the corrosponding cheapness of almost every article of living. On 
the very borders of the cotton growing regions, on the very brink of 
one of the noble rivers which constitute the great thoroughfares of the 
West, and with the great valley of the Mississippi for a market, the 
location at Cannelton stands unrivaled, as to its facilities for manufac- 
turing, by any spot in the Union, whether we have reference either to 
communication, transportation, materials, labor, or the sale of the pro- 
duction of the spindle or the loom, or all of them. These remarks, 
and the statements which accompany them, are well substantiated facts 
and practical realities. They require no argument to sustain them, 
for, to any one at all acquainted with the manufacturing business, and 
with the circumstances named, or who will take the trouble to inquire, 
they will become self-evident. But, even in the city of Lowell, itself, 
a steam cotton mill was erected in 1846, with an engine of 190 horse 



20 

power; and that this enterprise proves a profitable one, would seem t® 
be pretty certain, from the fact that another has been commenced in 
that city, and is soon to be put in operation, with 10,368 spindles, and 
with 260 looms, with a capacity for about double that quantity of ma- 
chinery. If, at Lowell, steam power can be made to compete success- 
fully with water power, what may not be expected of steam power ^n 
the lower Ohio!* — Art. IV.— De Bote's Commercial Review, for Au- 
susL 1819. 



PIT COAL. 

If, of the two motive powers, water and steam, the latter is not only 
more convenient but less expensive, it is important to know where steara 
ean be produced at the least cost. 

Were I to state, briefly, that our Western coal fields are more exten- 
sive, richer in quality, and far more accessible than any other known; 
that, on the Ohio, we can obtain coal at four cents per bushel as good 
as that which sells at sixteen cents per bushel at Manchester, England, 
I might not be believed. We have heard and read so much of the enor- 
mous quantity of coal used in and exported from Eagland, of the wealth 
it has produced, and of the dense population on and around her coal 
measures, that we infer that the English coal seams are of greater puri- 
ty, of vast thickness, and more cheaply worked than in any other coun- 
try. Text books and Encyclopedias give us very few details of collie- 
ries; and the following facts, which I have gathered from books devoted 
exclusively to the subject, and from topographical works, may be of 
interest, while they susiain my position. 

The only coal measures of practical interest to us are those of France, 
Belgium, Great Britain, Nova Scotia, and the United States. There 
are indications of coal in about thirty of the departments of France — 
that of Aveyron, near Spain, is said to be the most extensive, but, from 
the character of the country, or some unknown cause, is least worked. 
The latest authority I can find, gives only 7,000 persons employed in 
all the departments in the coal mines, and the supply of coais for the 
French steam marine is obtained from Belgium and England. There is 
a bed of coal, about 700 feet beneath the surface, extending from Val- 
enciennes, France, under Mons and Namur to Liege, in Belgium. This 
is one hundred and fifty miles in length, and six miles in width, and 
about 35,000 colliers are there employed. This quality of the coal is 



*"0n all the cotton goods manufactured in New England, the cost of motive 
power (steam or water does not average over three mills per yard. The steam 
mill goods IVom certain well known causes, are of so much better quality than 
others, as to textiu'e, smooti.ness, &c., that they command in market prices so 
much greater than othe.s, that Ihe. difference wilL considerably more than pay the 
entire cost of steim power used i7i their manufacture." — Hunt's Mer. Mag., March, 
1850. Art. of C. T. .James. 

"The entire motive power required to drive the Cannelton cotton mill of 10,000 
spindles, together with the fuel for heating the mill, &c., will not cost as much per 
spindle, as the fuel required for heating the Massachusetts mill at Lowell. — Ibid, 



21 

inferior, and its cost and distance from tlie sea prevent its coming in 
competition with the English coal. 

The coal beds of Ireland and Scotland are, on the whole, inftrior to 
those of England, but have the same general characteristics. 

The coal measures of England are west of a straight line drawn from 
Gosport to the mouth of the river Tees; the most important being on the 
British channel, in South Wales; in Flintshire, North Wales; in Lan- 
caster and Cumberland on the Irish Sea: Durham and Northumberland 
on the North Sea; and in Staflbrdshire and West Riding in central Eng- 
land. The coal in South Wales is only used on the spot for the smelt- 
ing and manufacture of iron, in the smelting of copper ore brougl. 
from Cornwall, and in the manufacture of tin plate. Tlie quanta, 
thus used is about 40,000,000 bushels per annum. The Lancaster and 
Cumberland mines supply manufacturing cities in these cjuiities, Liver- 
pool and other cities on the channel, and a larp,e quantity required foi 
exportation to Fiance, the West Indies, the Mediterranean, Ireland, and 
the United States. 1 may here remark that this coal (known as "Liv- 
erpool," "Orell," &c., in the Eastern ar.d New Oileens niaikets) will 
continue to be imported by us, at the present duty, as long as it will 
bring from twenty to twenty-five cents per bushel; but, at this rate, it 
cannot pay freight. It is used as ballast, and of couise the price at 
which it is said is no cri;erion of its cost. 

The Durham and Northumberland, known generally as the Newcas- 
tle, collieries supply the western and southern sections of England, and 
the demand in France, Belgium, and the Baltic; the chef market being 
London. Of the quantity required in that city, some idea can be form- 
ed from the consumption of nearly seven millions of bushels in her gas- 
works. 

The coal of central England is used in Birmingham, Stnfford, Shef- 
field, and other manufacturing cities. Edinburgh is supplied with coal 
from the vicinity; and the extensive cotton manufactories of Glasgow and 
Paisley are also furnished from collieries in the immediate district. 

In staling the cost of coal to the manufacturing consume), and for do- 
mestic purposes, this explanation is necessary: It is of kinds and names 
nnknown to us. Seventy distinct varieties are sent to London, and the 
screened and the small coal, the slack and the cinder of the same varie- 
ty are of different prices; often several varieties are combined, and the 
prices are as numerous as the compounds. Bovey coal is a bituminous 
wood holding an intermediate place between peat and pit coal; yet it i? 
worked an hundred feet ''below the grass." Sulphureous coal is dan- 
gerous to work; culm is of but little more value, and neither are used 
when better coal can be had. The Orell and Cannel varieties are the 
best for manufacturing purposes, and come nearest, in appearance and 
velue, to our Western coal. At New Orleans, for manufacturing pur- 
poses, the Pittsburg coal is, on the whole, preferred to them; at the Bos- 
ton gas works, the Indiana coal has been tested with and found superior 
to them; and in the accurate and numerous experiments made by Prof.- 
W. R, Johnson, under direction of Congress, both Pittsburg and Indi- 
ana coal are proved superior to the best Liverpool and Newcastle coal 



22 



Cor the generation of steam. When we shall separate the lamina of our 
€nal seams, we shall probably find all the best varieties for the manufac- 
ture of iron known in England. 

At Sheflield the prices of household coal) a mixture of hard, small or 
deck, and round or cobblings) is near seven cents per bushel; the strong, 
clear, and hard kinds, used for iron work, about fourteen cents. The 
immense consumption of coal in Manchester is supplied from collieries 
within eight miles, and at the cost of from six cents to fifteen cents. At 
Birmingham, the price ranges from six to sixteen cents. The Leeds 
coal is inferior, and sells at about seven cents. At Liverpool the aver 
age cost o( snii.U coal is quoted at ten cents, and of hard at thirteen an 
three-fourths cents. At the Staffordshire potteries the price is occasion- 
ally less Jian six cents; but the coal seam is so soft that only one-third 
is mined. 

The London prices quoted are: "Hetton" and "Walsend" twenty-five 
and one-tenth cents, and Newcastle, first and second qualities, average 
twenty-two and a half cents. These high prices, however, are caused 
by city charges and transportation. 

By the term " hard" coal is meant the hard layers of bituminous 
coal. 

I do not find any tabular statements of cost, except in counection 
with gas works. Here, generally, the best Liverpool, Wigan and Can- 
nel is preferred; and I give the table below, taken from a report of J. 
Hedley, to the House of Commons, in 1837: 



Birmingham . . . 
Staffordshire . . . 
Macclesfield . . . 


Price pfr 

lis 

9s 

8s 


Tan. 
lOd... 
3d.. . 

2d... 
6d*.'.' 

9d... 

6d... 

6d... 
6d... 


Price per Bushel 

$0.108... 

095... 

074... 

136... 

138... 

163... 

077... 

074... 

072... 

119... 

119..., 


I. Description. 
. . . . Brora wich. 

do 
, . . .Common. 


Stockport 

Manchester. . . . 
Liverpool . . . . . 

Bradford 

Leeds 


15s 

15s 

18s 

8s 

8s 


( Half Cannel 

\ a 19s 6d 
.. .Mixed. 
. . .Cannel. 
. . .3 sorts used. 
3 Cannel. 


Sheffield 


7s 


( 3 sorts used. 
\ Cannel a 16s 
( Derbyshire 


Liecester 


13s 


Derby 


13s 

13s 

17s 


{ soft coal. 
.. . do 


Nottino;ham. . . , 


119 


,. . do 


London 


154 


. .Newcastle. 



$1,447 

Which gives an average of over eleven cents per bushel. Tf we take 
the average of coal, equal in quality to Pittsburg, the average price at 
the great manufacturing cities of Birmingham, Manchester, Leeds, and 
Sheflield, is from fourteen to fifteen cents per bushel. Twenty-six bush- 
els and twenty-four pounds of our coal make a ton. I give twenty-six 



23 

and a half bushels to the ton. The respective weights, per cubic feet, 

are: 

Liverpool 78.8'J 

Newcastle 78.54 

Pittsburg 78.37 

Cannelton, Indiana 79.54 

according to Prof. Johnson's report. The advantage of the calculation, 
therefore, is against us. And yet, in ignorance of the facts, many of 
our men of capital and enterprise doubt whether we can enter into com- 
petition with English manufactures, because of the cheapness of Englisk 
coal ! 



THICKNESS AND DEPTH OF THE COAL SEAMS. 

South Wales. — The beds have been worked 2,100 feet below th« 
surface, although generally it has not been found necessary to go deeper 
than 480 feet. There are 12 seams between 3 and 5 feet; 11 from 18 
inches to 3 feet, and several, which are not worked, from 12 to 18 inch- 
es thick. 

Whitehaven. — The Howgill mine is 600 feet below the bed of th« 
sea, and carried 3,000 feet from the shore. 

Diuiham. — The most important colliery is the Montagu, 3| miles 
above Newcastle. Of this the Benwell main is 4 feet 9 inches thick — 
305 feet deep. The Beaumont seam 3 feet four inches thick — 409 feet 
deep. Low main 2 feet 11 inches thick — 523 feet deep. Low low 
main 2 feet 10 inches thick — 882 feet deep. 

Of the superincuQibent mass 301 feet is Whinstone and post; the 
first of \vhich is so hard that angular fragments will cut glass, and the 
latter is a hard kind of freestone, suitable for grindstones. 

Cumberland. — "Kmg's pit," near Whitehaven; 1 seam is 12 feet 
thick — 726 feet deep. 2 seams 2 feet thick — 900 feet deep. 3 seam* 
6 feet 1 inch thick — 1,293 feet deep. 

Ashhy. — At a depth of 475 feet, 5 beds of different qualities are 
worked, averaging about 3 feet in thickness. 

Sheffield. — The principal seams worked near Sheffield are: 1. Seam 

4 feet thick — depth not stated. 2. Seam 2 feet 3 inches thick, and 78 
feet below the 1st. 3 Seam 3 feet 9 inches thick — 198 feet below the 
1st. 4. Seam 4 feet 6 inches thick — 498 feet below the 1st. 5. Seam 

5 feet thick — ^^1,098 feet deep. 6, Seam 6 feet thick — depth not stated. 
Of these, the second seam is largely worked, and known as furnace 
eoal. The third has 7 lamina of different qualities. The fourth is, in 
working, separated into 8 layers, the lowest portion being Cannel coal, 
and used exclusively in the Sheffield gas works. The fifth, or "manor 
seam," has 15 layers, including two of soil. The sixth, or "Sheffield 
bed," has 6 or 8 varieties, some abounding in iron pyrites. 

Northumberland. — The shallowest pit is 138 feet deep, and the 
lowest 1,2 3 J feet perpendicular; of wliich the shaft alone cost about 
$350,000. 



24 

At Monkwearmouthsliire, the boring commenced in 1826, and had 
reached, in 1835, as low as 1,690 feet, passing through but a single 
available seam, at a depth of 1,578 feet; and, indeed, none other was 
looked for under 1,800 feet deep. In working this shaft about $500,000 
had been expended! 

"In the 'Alfred' pit, at Jarrow, there is a 30 horse steam engine, erect- 
ed at a depih of 78 feet below the surface, and used in raising the coals 
up a shaft which unites with the workings carried out 270 feet deeper 
still. At tliis profound depth, another engine draws the coals up an in- 
clined plane that lies coincident with the dip of the strata." 

At the '-Swan Banks" colliery, near Halifax, the "hard band" coal 
seam 2 feet 3 inches thick, is 442 feet deep, and the "sjft bed" coal 1 
foot 5 inches thick, is worked 812 feet below the surface. 

The foregoing are about the average value of the coal beds in En- 
gland. The thickest seam is that called the "Ten Yard-Vein," near 
Dudley. This, however, as is the case in all very thick beds, is diffi- 
cult to work. The coal is tender, the roof is not firm, and only about 
one-third of the coal can be taken out. Besides, thus far, no machine- 
ry has been found in detaching blocks of coal from the mass. Where 
the ordinary pick is insufficient, gunpowder is used, and, wherever this 
is required, Davy's safety lamp would be supeifluous. The seams 
worked at the least expense are from five to eight feet thick. Of the 
average depth and thickness of the coal in England, 1 have no precise 
data. It is safe, however) to estimate the depth at between 600 and 700 
feet, and the thickness from 3 to 3i feet. 

The cost of reaching and working these mines is enormous: cheap 
labor and capital only could sustain it. Where else but in England 
would a capitalist persevere for nine years, and expend half a million 
of dollars without any return, on the judgment of a "coal viewer" or ge- 
ologist? 

The labor and cost of raising the coal from such depths is but slight 
when compared with that reqirired to drain and ventilate the mines. 
Drainage is sometimes effected by "adits" or drifts. The Cornish adit, 
for example, extends its ramifications about 26.000 fathoms, and 
empties into Falmouth harbor. The adit of the Duke of Bridgewater's 
mines, at Worsley, is a prodigious work, about thirty miles long, and 
navigable for barges. But. generally, the water is taken from the mines 
by the use of the steam engine. For this pui pose the "South Hetton" 
colliery has three engines of 100 horse power each, and one of 300 
horse power; of the latter, the beam contains 81,840 pounds of iron, 
makes fifteen strokes per minute, and raises 800 pounds of water at 
each stroke. The cost of this engine was £10,000. And yet coal 
mines are often inundated, and sometimes thereby rendered usele.ss. 

The process of ventilating the mines is complcaied and costly, and 
so imperfect ihat the mines are never entirely safe from the deadly ef. 
ficts of the fire and choke damp. After the awful tragedies at the 
Pitt mines, it seems strange that man should risk a similar catastrophe, 
but, in England, life is as cheap as capital or .abor. 

I cannot, without extending this paper to a great length, enumerate 



25 

even all the important obstacles in the way of the English collier, but 
cannot omit reference to "dykes." 

"Dykes," says Mr. Coneybeare, "are an endless source of difficulty 
and expense to the coal owner, throwing the seams out of their level 
[at Clackmanshire 1,230 feet] and filling the mines with water and fire 
damp." And, yet. Prof. Buckland thanks God for so placing these 
"faults;" "for, without them, ' says he, ''the mines could not be drained 
by the powers of the most approved machinery." 

The statesmen of England attribute her great prosperity and power to 
her coal fields, and Parliaments have anxiously inquired of the surveyor 
and geologist whether the supply would last two or three thousand years 
longer. They may, in time, hear of our vast beds of the same mineral, 
of superior purity, without a "fault;" which is found by drifts and not 
shafts; \<hich require no artificial means of drainage or ventilation; in 
whose veins life is safe, and labor not irksome; and which underlies a 
soil of unsurpassed fertility; and they may remember the fate of Thebes, 
Athens, and Rome, and reflect that no amount of capital, no prepon- 
derance of power can long sustain a city or State when competing wiili 
superior natural advantages elsewhere. 

Nova Scotia. — The Albion mines are in Pictou, on the northern 
side of Nova Scotia, and eight and a half miles distant from the town of 
the same name. The coal is transported the whole distance by railroad, 
or by the river, in barges. The strata are similar to those of Stafford- 
shire. The Sydney and Bridgeport mines are on the eastern side of the 
island of Cape Breton. The coal in this field is similar in quality to 
that at Newcastle. Railroads are required here, and also steam "tugs" 
to tow coal vessels in and out of the harbors. The shallowest pit de- 
scribed is 180 feet deep; as the dip of the veins is rapid and towards the 
sea, the workings will continually increase in depth. T he seams, per- 
haps, are not as thick as those of England, and, judging from the price 
at which the coal is sold in New England, the cost of working them is 
not less.* 

Martin, in his "Colonial Library, ' states that all these mines are held 
by the "General Mining Association" as tenants of the crown and the 
late Duke of York, with a capital of ^2,000,000, chiefly invested in 
boats, machinery, and other means of carrying on its mining operations. 
The nearest and on'.y great market for this coal is New England, where 
its price ranges from 20 to 30 cents per bushel, after paying an import 
duty of about 45 cents per ton. 



*"The cost of Sydney and Pictou coal on board, independent of interest and 
royally, is ninety-one cents per ton. At Pictou the large coal is sold by the single 
cargo at $3 30 per chaldron" — 7 J cents per bushel. Freight of coal from Pictou 
to Boston (average) $2 9; to Providence $2 39. This gives an average cost of 
Pictou coal at the wharves of Boston and Providence of orer 15 cents per bushel, 
and exclusive of interest, exchange, insurance, commissions, &c. "The Pictou 
and Providence colliers are able to make no more than four trips during the sea- 
son of six months, in which the navigation remains practicable and safe." "The 
relative value of Pictou coal to anthracite is 88'100." — Coal Trade of Br. Am. by 
Prof. W, R. Johnson. 

3 



26 

Before I touch on the coal measures of the United States, I make a 
few quotations from various writers on the importance and value of thi?- 
mineral. 

"It cannot here be necessary to point out the many advantages which 
we derive from the possession of our coal mines, the sources of greater 
riches than ever issued from the mines of Peru, or from the diamond 
grounds at the base of the Neela Mulla mountains. But for our com- 
mand of fuel, the inventions of Watt and Arkwright would have been 
of small account; our iron mines must long since have ceased to be 
worked, and nearly every important branch of manufacture which we 
now possess must have been rendered impracticable, or, at best, have 
been conducted upon a comparatively insignificant scale." — Porter's 
Porgress of the Nation. 

"The ascent of Mount Blanc from Chamouni is considered, and with 
justice, as the most toilsome feat that a strong man can execute in Vfnt 
days. The combustion of two pounds of coal would place him on tht- 
summit." — Sir J. F. W Hershel. 

"The amount of the work now done by machinery, moved by steam, 
n England has been supposed to be equivalent to that of between three 
and four hundred millions of men by direct labor." 

Dr. Thompson says that in the coal fields on ihe north and northwest 
of Birmingham, the loss in mining, owing to the tender nature of the 
.substance itself, and the comparatively trifling demand for small coal, 
amounts to about two-thirds of the entire seam. In allusion to this- 
statement, and the efforts of a celebrated philosopher to economize the 
application of fuel, Mr. Tredgold exclaims: "The waste, which Count 
Rumford lamented ao much, dwindles to nothing in comparison with the 
wholesale destruction of a valuable material. Are you a manufacturer.' 
Look around and see what generates the power which enables you to- 
compete with other nation:*. Are you a philanthropist? Consider that 
a substance is destroyed which would add cmnfort to millions of your 
fellow creatures; consider the risk at which it is procured; the number 
of lives that are lost by explosions, and the misery these catastrophe.^ 
create. Surely, some means of rendering that portion useful, which i.» 
now wasted, may be devised." 

"In a w^ork, lately published by a Spaniard, there is a comparisoir 
between the produce of the gold and silver mines in America and the 
coal mines of Engjand. in which the author exhibits a balance in favor 
of the latter of no less than 229,500,000 francs a^inually/' 

"Penn.sylvania realizes from her coal mines an annual income of 4V 
millions, and Great Britain of 192 millions of dollars." — Hitchcoc¥f< 
Geol. Mass., 1841. 

My last quotation is from the 5plein<3id speech of Mr. Webster; 

"It {steam] is on the rivers, and the boatman may repose on his oars-, 
it is in the highways, and begins to exert itself along the courses of land 
conveyances; it is at ihe bottom of mines, a thousand (he might have 
said 1,800) feet below the earth's surface; it is in the mill, and in the 
Avorkshops of the trades. It jows, it pumps^ it excavates, it carries, it 
draws, it lift.^, it hammers, it weaves, it spins, it print.s," 

The geological map of the United States, compiled from surveys of 



27 

D. Dale Owen aad others, under direction of Congrees, and from (ulicr 
.sources, by Lyell, and published in his travels, gives the boundaries of 
the following coal fields: 

The first near Ricliinond, Va., of very limited extent. 

The second in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, which is not rich 
'■nougli to compete with the foreign supply. 

The third in the centre of IVlicliigan, underlying perhaps one-third of 
that State and touching Saganaw Bay. Of this I cannot find any fur- 
ther description. 

The fourth, or Appalachian, extends from the southern and interior 
counties of New York nearly to the southern point of the Tennessee 
river in Alabama. Its western limit is near Pomeroy, on the Ohio 
river; it approaches to within about forty miles of Lake Erie, near 
Cleveland, and its point nearest the tide-waters of the Atlantic is per- 
haps from ninety to one hundred miles west of Philadelphia. 

On the eastern slope, in Pennsylvania its character is chiefly anthra- 
cite; in Maryland and Virginia bituminous; and here are the richest 
mines of coal now known. Their value is now fully appreciated. 

Anthracite coal was first used on tide-water as fuel in 1820, and the 
supply sent to market in that year was only 365 tons. In 1846 the 
total supply was 2,333,594 tons; and 11,468 vessels, exclusive of boats, 
were loaded with it for coastwise demand. The great and only draw- 
back to the value of this coal-field is its location in the mountains, and 
its distance from market. Over fifty millions of dollars have 
already been expended in making canals, railroads, and other facilities 
for transporting the coal to points where it can be profitably used, and 
then the largest part of its cost is the result of labor outside of the mine. 
The interest on this capital, and the demand for this labor, will be per- 
petual. 

On the western slope of the Alleghanies this coal-field assumes a bit. 
uminious character. The only points, at which it is of present value to 
us, are where it touches the navigable waters of the Ohio and its tribu- 
taries. Here the coal is so abundant, so accessible, so cheaply and ea- 
sily worked, that geologists and "coal viewers"' have not been called on 
to describe its strata; and the only reliable authority I find in reference 
to it is in SiUiman's Journal, of October, 1835, and taken from a me- 
moir of Dr. S. P. Hildreth. He gives this type of the field in the val- 
ley of the Monongahela: 

"No less than four deposits of coal are fourd from the tops of the 
hills to the bed of the river; the uppermost is at an elevation of 300 
feet, and is 6 feet in thickness; the second is 150 feet above the bed of 
the river, and 7 feet thick — the coal of an excellent quality; the third 
fS 30 feet above the river, 3 feet thick, and coal rather inferior; the 
fourth bed is a few feet beneath the river, 6 feet thick, and of superior 
quality." 

This coal has some of the peculiarities of the Flintshire, a variety of 
the Scotch, and one of the Newcastle, but is superior to either. 

As this coal-field passes the head waters of the Sandy and Kentucky 
rivers it takes nearly the characteristics of the pure cannel. On the 



28 

banks of the rivers where this coal is mined, its price, aside from the 
rent, is from 2 to 3i cents per bushel, and depends on the quantity 
mined. 

It is much to be regretted that our States interested in this field have 
not had it fully surveyed and described. 

There is a coal-field in the valley of the Osage river of surprising 
depth and richness. This has but recently been discovered, and but lit- 
tle is known of it. 

The great Illinois coal-field completes the list. This is nearly of an 
elliptical form; underlies nearly the whole of Illinois, ihe southwestern 
portion of Indiana, and the counties in Kentucky opposite for 70 or 80 
miles. It crosses the Mississippi, and then extends 15 or 20 miles on 
its western bank, about the mouth of Rock river; its edges on the Ohio 
are at Cannelton on the east, and near the mouths of the Saline and 
Tradewater rivers, on the west. Its area is not much, if any, inferior 
to that of all the coal-fields of England. I believe, and think 1 can show, 
that on this is to be the great manufacturing district of the world.* 

In the opinion of geologists, the whole field is what is termed a "ba- 
.sin," and, on the Ohio, is lowest about Henderson. Probably there are 
only three strata that are worth working. The lower, in geological 
position, is seen at Cannelton and Trade Water; the upper at Bon 
Harbor; each of these, at different points, is from 3 to 10 feet in thickness. 

On the eastern side the dip is westwardly about fifty feet in a mile; on 
the western side the dip is eastwardly, but how rapid is not known. 
Near the Mississippi river the lower strata is said to be very sulphuri- 
ous. 

The positions where it has been worked, and where the coal appears 
to be of an excellent quality and convenient thickness, are at Cannel- 
ton, and on the Wabash and White rivers, in Indiana; about 100 miles 
up the Green river, at Bon Harbor, and on the Trade Water river, in 
Kentucky; and on the Saline and Big Muddy rivers, the Illinois river, 
and the mines of Messrs. Belknap, Ruffner, & Co., six miles west of 
St. Louis, in Illinois. 



ON THE NATURAL ADVANTAGES FOE MANUFACTURING ON THE OHIO 

EIVEE. 

The natural elements of a manufacturing district are these: 

1. Power — cheap, ample, and certain. 

2. Cheap living. 

3. Facilities of transporting man and matter. 

4. Proximity to the materials to be manufactured. 

5. Nearness of the market to be supplied. 

6. An healthy position and a climate so equable and temperate that 
man may sustain continuous labor, even in partial confinement. 

*Since the first pulilication of this article, the "Statistics of Coal," by R. C. 
Taylor, Esq., has issued from the press. The facts collated in that valua- 
ble work show, beyond all perad venture, the vast comparative advantages of 
Caimelton as the site of a manufacturing city. 



29 

7. A good site for buildings and near suitable building rraterials. 

Let us cxauiir)o these in their order. 

1. PuwKii. — There is now scarcely any handicraft work, from the 
simplest to the most complicated, which is not materially aided by ma- 
chinery. Hands seem to be merely required to set that machinery in 
motion and to direct its movements. So wonderful are the inventions 
of this century, that we dare not state the ratio of decrease of human 
labor in any branch of manufactures. A few years since we supposed 
that the cotton spindles and looms were perfect, or nearly so; yet. within 
four or five years, a few simple improvements have been made that have 
reduced the number of hands in a cotton mill more than one half; and 
it is now said that much of the cotton machinery in England and New 
England is scarcely worth having. 

The effect of these improvements is to make cheap power more im- 
portant than cheap labor. 

It cannot be necesssary to adduce many reasons why manufacturing 
should be carried on where the power is found; water power of course 
is stationary; and, where steam is the motive power, it is generally far 
cheaper to move the raw material than the coal. For example: 1,000 
tons of coal are required in the manufacture of 600 tons of cotton, and 
from 3 to 5 tons of coal for one ton of iron. Certainly there are ex- 
ceptions to the rule: it is cheaper to transport coal from JNova Scotia 
and Pennsylvania to New England than to pay the aggregate freight on 
the cotton, dry goods, and provisions to and from the bleak coasts of 
Sidney and Pictou, or the barren hills around Frostburg ai^d Pottsvillc. 
Perhaps this exception will be but temporary. 

The chief manufacturing towns of England are in the vicinity of coal- 
fields.* Even the woolen mills of Sussex and Essex have yielded in 
competition with those of the coal districts. 



*The causes of the growth of luodern cities are the concentration, or as«em- 
lilago in certain localities, of the materials, or the most usefnl nia'erials, which 
afford labor for the hand ol industry, and from the products of which the grow- 
ing wants of niaiikind are supplied 

To sustain this position we submit ihe following conci--e statements show 
ing the causes of the growth and progress of the several cities and towns respec- 
tively mentioned. 

BiTmhiahdw. Engttnid.— This city, in 1801 had a population of 73.C70; in 
18 U of 146,985; in"l839 an estimated population of 190,000, and at the j.re- 
sent time of probal)ly not less than 2;")0,0l»0. Its opulence, celebrity, and mag- 
nitude, are ascribable to the iron, stone, and coal, with which the district 
abounds. 

Bolton, Ensland. — The rapid growth and prosperity of this town dates from 
1770-80. Its population in 1773 was .^).604; in 1801 18,.583; in ISll 25,551; 
in 18-21 32.973; in 1831 43.397. It is a seat of cotton manufacture and the 
birth-place of Arkwright. Its growth is atiributed to its command of coal, be- 
ing situated in a coal district. 

Bradforil. England. — Township consists of 1680 acres; population in 1801 
6,393; in 1821 13.004; in 1831 no less than 23.233. and .«ince that period has 
increased still more rapidly. Its growth is owing to its man factures which are 
facilitated by its unlimited command of coal, and its abundance of iron. 

Burnley, >:w^Z«nrf.— Population in 1801 3,305; in 1821 6,378; in 1841 54,192. 

3* 



30 

When the two are to be combined, the tendency of the bulky is to 
draw the heavy article to it; and the more valuable the naaterial tlie bet- 
ter it will bear transportation. 

The copper and tin ores of Cornwall are taken to the Welsh coal 



A manufacturing town. Cause of growth: abundance and cheapness of coal 
found in the vicinity, with a good supply of free-stone, slate, &c. The town 
is built mostly of free-stone. 

Bury, Enirland. — A large manufacturing town, consisting of 4,360 acres. 
Population^in 1821 13,480; in 1841 77,496. In the parish of the same name 
and which include tliis town are extensive quarries of building stone, and nine 
wrought coal mines. 

Carlisle, England. — A manufacturing town; supplied with coal from places 
varying from 12 to 20 miles distant. Populationiu 1801 10,221; in 1821 15,486; 
in 1841 36,084. 

Cltarlcroy. — An important manufacturing town in Belgium, situated in the 
centre of the great coal basin of Charleroy. In 1836 it had 72 mines in active 
operation, producing 900,000 tons of coal per annum. Iron abounds and also 
(juarries of marble and slate. Its furnaces give employment to 3,000 men, and 
during the winter season 4,000 men are employed in making nails. Its coal, 
iron, and stone have made it what it is. 

Derby, England. — A manufacturing town with both water-power and coal. 
Population in 1841 35,015; in 1811 it was only 13,043. 

Durham. England. — In 1821 this city had a population of 10,282; in 1831 
only 10,520. About this time extensive coUeries were opened, and population 
immediately increased, so that in 1840 the number of its inhabitants was put 
down at 40,000. Previous to tiiis it was one of the dullest cities in the king- 
dom; stone, lime, coal, and iron abound. 

Huddersjficld, England. — The township consists of 3,950 acres, and had a 
population in 1801 of 7,268; in 1831 of 19,035. The population of the parish 
in 1840 was estimated at 40,000. It is one of the principal seats of the woolen 
manufacture, and stands in the midst of a rich coal field. There is also an am- 
ple supply of water power. 

Johnston, Scotland. — The rise of this town has been more rapid than any 
other town in Scotland. The ground on which it stands began, for the first 
time, to be feud, or let, on building leases in 1781, when it contained only ten 
persons. Its population in 1840 is set down at 7,000. Its growth is owing to 
tlie introduction of manufactures, it being situated on a fine water power. It 
has several founderies and machine shops, and near the town are four collie- 
ries. 

Leeds, England. — A celebrated manufacturing town, and the great centre of 
the woolen cloth trade. Population of the town in 1831 71,602. Its eminence 
is owing, partly, to its advantageous situation in a fertile country, intersected 
with rivers, and partly to its possessing inexhaustible beds of coal. 

Leigh, EngUnid. — A manufacturing town, with a population, in 1841 of 
22,229. In 1834, according to Mr. Baines, upwards of 8,000 persons were 
employed in spinning and weaving cotton and silk, both by hand and power 
looms. Its industry and growth is promoted by its abundance of coal and 
lime. 

Lowell, Massachusetts. — Population in 1820 200; at the present time 35,000- 
Cause of growth, its great water power. 

Lawrence, Massachusetts — Present population 7,500. Four or five years ago 
it was but a school district. Its water wheels have graded streets, and lined 
these with splendid edifices on alluvial \a.iid so poor that it would not average a 
crop of 15 bushels of corn to the acre without artificial enrichment. 

Manchester, Neic Hampshire. — In 1835 was a small hamlet; in 1840 a few 
mills had increased its population to about 3,000; it is said to contain now about 
17,000 souls. Altliough it is in a hilly and barren country, and receives its ma- 



31 

£elds to be smelted; so also have been the copper ores of Cuba and 
Lake Superior. The coal at Pittsburg has drawn to it the lead of Illi- 
nois, and the iron of the Juniata, of Ohio, and Kentucky, and even of 
Tennessee and Missouri. 

The same rules are applicable to the next element — cheap living. 

The coal of England attracted our cotton; but, although South Wales 
was nearer than Lancaster, Manchester became the seat of cotton man. 



terials and sends its products over about 60 miles of railroad it is still growing 
with rapidity because it has the motive power of the Merimac. 

Mancliester, England. — The great center of the cotton manufacture in Great 
Britain, and the principal manufacturing town in the world. JManchester and 
Salford are separated by the small river Irwell, and form one town, covering 
3,000 acres. The population of the town and suburbs, including Salford, in 
1801, was 95,313; in 1831 239,388; and in 1841 was estimated at 360,000. 
Manufacturing has made Manchester. The steam engine, with other improved 
machines for working up cotton, have made its manufactures, and the coal from 
the inexhaustible coal field, on the edge of which the city is situated, has fed 
the engine. Hence the modern growth of Manchester is ascribable to its coal. 

Mertliyr-Tyilvil, S. ^r«/es.— Population 27,460 in 1831; in 1841 34,977. It is 
remarkable for its iron works, and is wholly indebted for its prosperity to its 
rich mines of coal, iron ore, and lime-stone. Towards the middle oC the last 
century it was an insignificant village, and in 1755 tlie lands and mines for se- 
veral miles around the village, the seat of the great works now erected, were 
let for 99 years for £200 a year. 

Newcastle- Upou-Tyne — Population in 1831 53,613; in 1841 estimated at 
65,000. It owes its importance, if not its existence, to its convenient situation 
as a place of shipment for the coal wrought in its neighborhood. 

PittsburiT, Pennsylvania. — The population of Pittsburg for each decennary 
period from 1800 was 1,565: 4,768; 7,248; 12,.542; 21.115. With its depen- 
dences it has a present population of about 100,000. And although it has lost 
the greater part of its transportation and commercial business, it is now grow- 
ing more rapidly tiian ever. The copper ore of Lake Superior; the lead of 
Illinois; the wheat of Michigan; the cotton of Tennessee; and even the iron 
and sand of Missouri are transported to and combined by the power that lies 
in tlie Pittsburg coal. 

Oldham. England. — A large manufacturing town, chiefly cotton. Popula- 
tion in 1841 42,595. In 1760 it comprised only about 60 thatched tenements. 
In 1839 it had 200 manufactories, set in motion by a steam power equal to 
2,942 horses, and employing 15,391 hands. It has an abundant and immediate 
supply of excellent coal. 

Rochester, New For/i.— Population in 1820 1,502; in 1830 9,269; in 1840 
20,191. It owes its great advantages and rapid growth to its vast water power, 
created by the falls in the Gennessee river. 

Sheffield, England. — Noted for its hardware, cutlery, &c. Population of the 
parish in 1801^45,7.55; in 1831 91.692; and in 1841 110,801. Its manufactures 
are extensive and known the world over. Coal and iron have made the citj-. 

Wolverhampton, England. — This town, or rather the district, including the 
town, comprises 16,630 acres. Its populafion in 1831 was 67,514. In 1841 
the population of the town alone was 36,189. Wolverhampton, and the pla- 
ces in its vicinity, owe their rapid rise to the mines of coal and iron-stone. 

Other illustrations, such as Pottsville, Cumberland, Wheeling, Pomeroy, 
&c., &c., might be adduced, but those already given are believed to be suffi- 
cient to indicate the tendency of men at the present time, to cluster around and 
to build their homes in such localities as atford them the great staples and 
materials upon which they may bestow their labor, and for which they may re- 
ceive the largest rates of compensation. — Canndton Economist. 



32 

ufactures, because, besides being in a coal district, it was the centre of a 
rich agricuhuial countiy. Ttie same causes placed Sheffield, Birming- 
ham, and Leeds where they are, instead of on the Tyne, or the Wear. 
The Staffordsliire potteries aie over the bids of coal and clay. 

While colonics, we were (as Canada is now) compelled, by direct or 
indirect legislation, to wear English goods; and for half a century after 
the revolution had emancipated us from this quasi necessity, the English 
artisan was (practically) confined within prison limits; he was not per- 
mitted to emigrate, and he could not send plans, models, or machinery 
abroad. 

Slater, the father of the cotton manufacture in America, could not 
(so closely was he watched at the custom-house) even smuggle over a 
single drawing or pattern. He had, however, acquired a full knowledge 
of the Arkwright principle of spinning, and, Irom recollection and with 
his own hands, made three cards and seventy. two spindles, and put them 
in motion in the building of a clothier, by the water wheel of an old 
fulling mill. 

Let him who doubts the practicability of manufacturing here look at 
this humble beginning and take courage. This pioneer, with very slen 
der means and with few friends, surmounted every difficulty, amassed a 
fortune, and lived to see New England a manufacturing rival of Eng- 
land. 

Although we have coal at home and at from one-half to one-sixth of 
its cost in Lancasier or JVlassachuseiis, the most of our cotton and no 
small part of our hemp and wool is sent froin three to six thousand 
miles to be manufactured; and then our flour and corn and pork are 
sent in the same direction to make up the deficiency of food among the 
manufacturers. 

It is not very strange that this state of facts has existed, but it will be 
passing strange if it continue to exist much lorger. It will not even 
require another year of famine abroad to show clearly and practically 
that it is far cheaper to transpo:t the spinner, the weaver, and the ma- 
chinist to our coal, corn, and cotton, than to pay one freight on the corn 
and two on the cotton. 

The third, fourth, and fifth elements of a manufacturing district are 
facilities for moving man and matter, and proximity to the raw ma- 
terial and to the market. These are resolved into cost of transporta- 
tion. 

General impressions on this point are very erroneous; and, as the re- 
sult of my statistics may far exceed t'.e belief of those who have not 
investigated the subject, I give the facts for the full examination of all 
who feel an interest in them. 

In these articles I refer specially to the co.st of manufacturing and 
vending cotton goods becat.se this branch of manufacturing is of more 
importance and better understood than any other. 

Some years since a pamphlet was published in England, by Mr. Gra- 
ham, on "The Impolicy of the Tax on Cotton Wool." In this is an 
affidavit of Mr. Gemraell, of Glasgow, who states, "that, although he 
was for several years in the habit of supplying Chili with cotton do- 



33 

mestics, he has latterly been obliged to abandon the trade in consequence 
of being unable to compete with the manufacturers of the United 
States." 

Chili is a market equi-distant from the two competitors for her trade. 
What gave New England such an advantage over cheap labor, cheap 
coal, and cheap capital of England? The difference in the cost of 
transportation on the raw njaterial. 

In 1839-40, Montgomery* gives this estimate of the cost of impor- 
tation of cotton to the British manufacturer, the first cost of the cotton 
being 14 cents per pound. 

Charges on shipment 4 per cent. 

Freight and insurance 12^ " 

Importer's profit 5 " 

Inland carriage IJ " 

Duty 4^ 

Total average 27j *' 

While the average cost to the New England manufacturer is staled at 
11 per cent. 

The estimate of the actual charges of manufacturing in the two coun- 
tries gives an average of six mills per yard against us; yet, taking both 
charges into the estimate, the net advantage was three per cent, in our 
favor; and besides this, our goods were the best. 

Since 1840, the British Government has been obliged to take off the 
duty, but it could not lessen the cost of labor, of power, or of capital. 
The wages of the operative then were barely enough to support life; the 
cost of coal must increase as the seams nearest the surface are exhaust- 
ed, and it is doubtful whether the capital then invested in the cotton mill 
was paying any interest. 

The changes that have since occurred on this side of the water have 
all been in our favor; that is, so far as the cost of manufacturing is con- 
cerned. More experience has given us greater skill; we have more sys- 
tem and more economy; new facilities of intercommunication have 
brought our producers and manufacturers of cotton nearer to each other 
and lessened the cost of their mutual exchanges; but, more than all, the 
cost of labor, in which England had so much the advantage, has been 
lessened over one half; that is, less than one. half is now required. Be- 
sides, of late years, the supply of cotton has been so near the demand 
that the price has fallen from 14 cents per pound to an average of 9 or 
8 cents; as the cost is reduced our relative advantage is increased. 



*Mr. James Montgomery, the author of several standard works on the uianii 
facture of cotton in Europe and America On a subsequent pa^e will be 
given his opinion of the relative advantages of England. New England, and 
the Southern and Western sections of the Mississippi valley, for the manu- 
facture of this great staple. 



34 

From these facts we have this corollai-y: that, as the cost of labor, 
power, and material is reduced, the cost of transportation rises in im- 
portance. 

If England cannot profitably compete with us in the Chili market 
certainly she cannot compete with us here; for the width of the Atlan- 
tic gives us a protection, directly or indirectly, of at least 15 per cent. 
ad valorem. 

In point of fact, just as fast as the American manufacturer is able to 
supply the home demand in any article, the English manufacturer is 
driven from our market, unless, to raise money or to break down a rival, 
he is prepared to sell at less than cost. It is to be hoped that the wages 
of labor in this country will never be so low that we can compete with 
China in embroidered shawls or ivory trinkets; or with France and Ger- 
many in tapestry or laces made by hand. In such fabrics the cost of 
transportation bears but a slight proportion to the cost of labor. 

It is clear then that England cannot sell coarse, heavy, and cheap 
goods in this valley in competition with our own manufacturer. Let us 
see if New England can. 

In 1821, as I am told, the first mill for spinning cotton yarn on an 
extensive scale was established on the Ohio. Now, who sees in our 
stores a hank of English or Eastern cotton yarn? The same cause that 
has produced this result — that is, the cost of transportation — must, in a 
few years, build up all the mills we need to supply us with "domes- 
lies." 

To see what the precise inducements are to start such a mill here, I 
give the following details of the cost of transporting cotton from its 
point of production to us and to the New England mill, and of the 
goods from the mill to us. It is clear that the dift'erence in the first and 
the amount of the last give the sum of our advantages in this item, at 
least to the extent of our home market. 

I base my estimates on a mill of 10,000 spindles for convenience, 
and because that is near the most economical size. It will be borne in 
mind that the calculation includes the cost of machinery for preparing 
the cotton and weaving the goods. 

At almost any point on the Ohio river the cost of building is less 
than in Massachusetts. We have stone, lime, clay, and generally lumber 
on or near the spot. There the lumber and lime is brought from Maine; 
but few positions furnish good clay for brick; and granite is not as easily 
worked as our lime or sandstone. The moment there is a demand for 
it, machinery can be made here 20 per cent, cheaper than at the East. 
The cost now would be nearly this: 



35 

The factory building of brick or square stone ruble $30,000 

House for superintendent 3,000 

Twelve boarding houses for 225 operatives 10,000 

Warehouse and store 2,500 

Engine, gearing, and pipes for heating mill, put up 8,000 

Machinery, at $12 per spindle 120,000 

Here a working capital, sufllciently large to lay in a stock 

of cotton for five months, is $46,500 

Capital stock $220,000 

This estimate is based on the supposition that the mill is located in a 
town where there are houses, tools, and workshops for laborers and me- 
chanics, and where the machinery can be built. 

At a new place, from ten to twenty per cent, may be added to meet 
extra cost of transportation, &c. In this case, however, the apprecia- 
tion of land near the mill, and which can be secured by the mill own- 
ers, will far more than meet these extra costs. 

It may also be good economy to put up the best buildings, and thu.s 
offer greater attractions to operatives. The trimmest built and rigged 
ship will always command the best sailors. 

The longer the materiel and its product are in transitu, or, in other 
words, the further the manufactory is from the raw material and the mar- 
ket, the larger must be the working capital; and the interest on the dif- 
ference is fairly a part of the cost of transportation. And besides, as 
England and New England are obliged to enter the cotton market once 
a year, and at the same time, and at the very time when our other great 
staples are ready for shipment, prices and freights are then generally at 
their highest rates; sometimes, as we have seen, suflicient means of trans- 
portation cannot be had at all; to guard against this contingency, as well 
as the fluctuations of price, many mills keep a heavy surplus stock. — 
We can command the market at all times; we are always ready to con- 
tract, and can select our own time to receive the cotton. We are here, 
also, at the point of consumption, we cannot for years supply the home 
demand, and our goods will be taken as fast as they are made. 

With these facts in view, it is very safe to say that the New England 
mill requires a working capital of $100,000 more than ours; but, to be 
altogether within the mark, put it at $50,000; the interest on this is the 
fir.st item of saving or advantage to be carried out — say per annum 
$3,000. As we can turn over our capital more than once a year, and 
its earnings at each time will exceed six per cent., we might, with pro- 
priety, make the item much larger. 

At Lowell there are forty-five mills, containing 253,456 spindles, and 
with a capital of $11,490,000, or over $450,000 for every 10,000 
spindles. If $50,000 is deducted for capital required to purchase the 
power, $50,000 more to cover the difference in communicating the pow- 
er and the additional cost of buildings, the working capital would seem 
to be $130,000 over that required here by my estimate. But I am not 



36 

advised as to how much of this capital is required to enable the mill to 
sell on credit, or whether the surplus fund, usually laid aside out of pro- 
fits, is sufficient for this purpose. The Lowell corporations rarely pub- 
lish the amount of their reserved funds, or even of their profits, unless 
these profits are remarkably low. 

The mill in question will turn out, on the average, two tons of goods 
a day — say six hundred tons per annum. The English estimate of 
waste and loss is one-sixth; our rule gives eighty-nine pounds of goods 
for one hundred pounds of cotton; by this the mill will require six hun- 
dred and .sixty six tons of cotton per annum. 

The following estimate of the cost of bringing dry goods to Louis- 
ville from Boston, via New Orleans, is below the average rates. 

Boston wharfage, per bale 024 

Freight to New Orleans, per bale 45 

Charges at New Orleans, per bale 30 

Insurance, 2 per cent, on $66, or on cost and 10 per cent. 

added 1 32 

Interest in transitu 40 days 40 

Exchange i per cent 30 

Freight to Louisville 63j 

$3 42 
Add average cost on the bale from the mill to and at Boston, 

at least 40 

$3 82 

The bale, 4-8 brown cotton, of 750 yards, average cost $60; three 
yards to the pound. This gives over J cent to the yard, Ij cents to the 
pound, and $30 per ton. 

There are, however, but few houses that ship by New Orleans, and 
at times when freights are low; altogether the largest portion of brown 
cottons and prints brought to the central West come from the Eastern 
agent or jobber, and by the lakes or across the mountains. 

This is the ordinary course of trade, and there is no reason why we 
should not base our estimates on what is usually done, if the same sys- 
tem is likely to continue. 

By these last routes, as every dry goods merchant (wholesale) can sat- 
isfy himself by reference to his books, the average freights from the 
Eastern cii.ies is from two-thirds to three-fourths of one cent per yard. If 
to this is added the coastwise freight, insurance, interest, profit of the 
jobber or commission of the second agent, the cost will swell up to, at 
least one cent per yard, three cents per pound, or sixty dollars per ton. 

But, as I have often been told, the agent at Baltimore will sell do- 
mestics just as low as they can be had at Boston or Lowell, and the 
Philadelphia jobber will often sell lower to draw in customers, as he re- 
lies for his profits on other goods. All very true ; but a moment's re- 
flection will satisfy any man of the fallacy of this reasoning. The 
manufacturer may wish to get rid of his surplus, and find it his interest 



37 

lo pay the transportation to, and the connnission of an agent in a remote 
market, but this does not lessen the actual cost of the transportation or 
agency. The jobber may entice a customer into his store by selling sil- 
ver at fifty cents an ounce, but this does not prove that the ounce of sil- 
ver is actually worth less than a dollar. The same kind of argument is 
often applied to cost of transportation on our river. The Peytona will 
ask five dollars from a passenger to Louisville who calls her in at Bran- 
denburg, and the price would be the same if he got in at Cairo; yet the 
writer on the Western carrying trade would be laughed at were he to 
state that the cost of transportation from Cairo and Brandenburg to Lou- 
isville was the same. Coal often sells for a less price at St. Petersburg 
than at Newcastle; yet no one has attempted to show that the shipment 
of coal a thousand miles lessens its cost, or that St. Petersburg is the 
proper site of manufactures, because coal was sold there at a particular 
day cheaper than at the English coal mines. The balance sheet of ev- 
ery business must show the profits or losses in each of its branches. 

The high prices demanded by the larger boals for way passengers and 
freight have introduced the river packets, and the extra costs paid by the 
Eastern manufacturer are now building up the Western mills. 

To return to the figures; the mill given will consume G66 tons of cot- 
ton per annum. 

Freight from the cotton districts of Nashville, Florence, Tuscumbia, 
and points on the Mississippi river in Tennessee and Arkansas, and on 
the Arkansas river, are about the same to Louisville as to New Orleans. 
As the river packets multiply, the rates in this direction will probably 
be lower. Besides, as our agricultural exports increase, the return boats 
will run light and charge less. Our mill, then, will save the charges 
on the cotton at New Orleans and the cost between that city and the 
New England mill, say: 

Drayage, storage, brokerage, and commission of agent or mer- 
chant at New Orleans per bale of 450 lbs ^1 qo 

Insurance on $36, or 8 cents per lb 5q 

Freight, 3 cent per lb........... , 3 3^ 

Interest, 45 days gy 

$5 15 

Or, 1 14-100 cent per pound, or per ton ^22 00 

Add charges in Boston. jq 

Average freight to the mill 2 70 



Total per ton , $25 80 



38 

G66 tons^ required at ^25 80 gives $17,182 80 

Add saving in interest of capital per annum. 3,000 00 

Add minimum freight on goods, or ^30 per ton on 600 

tons, §518,000 00 

Minimum advantage ^538,182 80 

But if wc add the ordinary freight on the goods, or $60 per ton, we 
have the maximum advantage of $56,182 80, or an average of $47,- 
182 80 on a capital of $220,000, or near 21 J per cent, per annum. — 

1 might add from 1 to 2 per cent, loss on Exchange, as the agen(s oi 
tlie largest mills usually sell Bills at 60 days, and at a discount of from 

2 to 3 per cent, to pay for the cotton they purchase at New Orleans. 
Besides, a large amount of cotton manufactured at the East pays a 

second profit and the costs of a second transportation. 

As I have not access to the Exchange accounts of the Kentucky 
Banks, (whose agents invest largely in these Bills) or to the Books of 
the New York cotton speculator, or of the Sound steamboats, I cannot 
make an average of these items of cost, and omit them in the foregoing 
calculation.! 

I say nothing here of the great saving in fuel and in food; to these 
points and to giving an aggregate of advantages I propose lo devote an- 
other paper. 

I believe the foregoing estimates are within .the trudi, and that I have 
not been able to get at all the items of cost; indeed, many of these are 
of such a character that they cannot well be specified; such, for in- 
stance, as the expenses and time of the merchant who goes abroad to 
make his purchases; occasional loss and delays in receiving goods for 
which insurance offices and transportation lines cannot be made liable: 
and all the contingencit s to which a trade between distant points is sub- 
ject. J 



* The improved machinery will Uirn out a large per cent, over this estimate: 
say H40 ions for a mill of this size and making ]\o. 14 clotli. 

t The Connecticut and Khode Island manufacturers are, to a hirge extent, 
supplied with coUon from New York. The New York conniiission merchant, 
on the average computes the freight-charges, from New Orleans, and his 2^ 
commissions at Ir} cent per pound; say per bale $5 00. 

The T'rovidence dealer pays half brokerage at home and half at New York, 
or 12.^ cents ]!er hale. Freight to Providence 25 cents per hale. Cartage at 
New V'orkS cents, and at Providence Scents — 16 cents per bale. He sells on 
six months credit, and at an advance on New York price of 1 cent per pound, 
or per bale of 400 lbs $4 00 

Deduct 12^ plus ]6 plus 2.5 and you have $0 5o^ 

'.'. per cent, interest on say $36, 1 08 

1 cu 

Giving liim a profit per bale, of $2 StrA 

The Providence manufacturer, then, paysabout2 cents per pound more than 

the m.'innlinctarer of Cannelton or say 25 per cent, on the average 23rice of cotton. 
X Mr. James Montgomery, whose estimates have already been alluded to, and 

who is very high authority in whatever pertains to the theory and practice of 



29 

The sixth element, of a maiiufacturlng district is a heaUhy position, 
and a climate so equable and temperate that man may sustain continu- 
ous exertion even in partial confinement. 

Such is and ever will be the coiiipetiiion in manufacturing that the 
mere operative can expect only a slight advance in wages over the agri- 
culturist. 

The latter is usually the owner of the soil he tills; he bears exposure 
willingly for the increased value of his farm obtained by that exposure. 
Me drains the morass, despite of iis noxious eflluvia, v/iih the prospect 
of rich harvests on the same site; but the former stipulates for and only 
receives a stated pay, and with no expectation of an advance; to be 
sure, the "factory girl" works by the piece, but she knows, before en- 
tering the mill, how many pieces she can turn out. Besides, when the 
ploughman is sick, his place can readily be supplied; but the sickness 
of the engineer may stop the work of hundreds, and a large capital 
may lie idle while a substitute is sought for. 

I refer specially to large manufacturing establishments, carried on by 
associated capital, and under the organization of directors, superintend- 
ents, and overseers, of whom the active managers are men of character, 
and generally men of family, who prefer a liberal and certain income, 
to the uncertainties of trade or of the learned professions — men who 
would not, for a limited salary, risk the climate of Singapore or Spits- 
bergen. 

Indeed, the reasons are too obvious for enumeration, why such labor 
can only be obtained and rendered productive- in the temperate zone, 
and there never was and never will be a manufacturing town at any 
other than a perfectly healthy position — not even in those countries 
where labor is constantly pressing for employment. Even after a place 
(Louisville for example) has become healthy, it requires years to remove 
unfavorable prejudices. 

On this river, at least as far down as the lo.uands at the confluence 
of its western tributaries, there are as few permament causes of disease 
as exist in any other part of the world; the causes of malaria will soon 

manufacturinjf cotton, has recently made a personal exarainalion of the manu- 
facturing facilities of the Potith and West, and thus expresses his op'uions : 

"I have read General .Tanies's pamphlet and the pamphlets written by .Mr. 
Gregfij, on the ' oniparative advantages of the South for manufacturing, and 
yet, after all I liave read on tlie subject, I may say, with the Queen ol Sheba, 
half Ihc truth has not yet liern toht. Cheap living, and, of course, low wage.-, 
chea]) cotton, coals, and iron, constitute the great elements of success in the 
introduction and prosecution of the cotton manufacture. No country in tht 
world possesses these elements in a decree equal to the southern andsoutlnccstern sec- 
tions of the United States. Great Britain, witli her cheap coals and iron, stands 
at the head of all nations in point of wealth and commerce. She is now mak- 
ing a desperate c'ort to introduce cheap living, but she can never introduce 
cheap coUon. The Northern States can never ecpial the South in cither of the 
above named elements. I hope your Cannelton mill is to be a model for a!! 
the South. It is onltj in manufacturing towns and cities, where there is a concen- 
tration of skill and talent, that ice look for the highest degree of perfectiim in the 
mechanical and manufacturing arts. Such cities alwiiys exert the greatest influewf: 
an the countrij generally," 



40 

be entirely removed by the cultivation of its banks, and the constant 
agitation of its surface by boats; and, in a few years, bilious fevers will 
bo as rare here as at the East, while we are comparatively exempt from 
that scourge of the Northeastern seaboard, the consumption. There, as 
experience has shown, the piercing winds, coming unobstructed from 
the icebergs of the Arctic ocean, bring death to those coming out of the 
heated rooms of a city or manufactory; but the cold air of the lakes 
and the mountains is tempered before it reaches us. 

Our coal districts are proverbially healthy. Coal smoke is by many 
believed to be one of the best disinfecting agents, and the usual epidem- 
ics of the country have become less fatal when the use of coal has be- 
come common; perhaps this is one of the causes why the centers of our 
cities are always regarded as more healthy than the suburbs. 

The eighth element is a convenient site, and near suitable building 
materials. 

It would astonish one who has never thought of the subject to calcu- 
late the amount of fixed capital expended in grading an uneven site of 
a city, and in its buildings. The filling up of our ponds and cutting 
down of our sandhills has been but a mere trifle when compared with 
simlar expenditure in other cities. 

The splendid Quincy market house in Boston, and the immense 
blocks of granite warehouses around it, now stand where ships once an- 
chored; millions of dollars have been paid by New York for the timber 
and lime of Maine, the granite of Massachusetts, the sandstone of Con- 
necticut and New Jersey — and she has even been obliged to send to 
New Hampshire and Maryland for brick. 

The very cost of transportation on the building materials, already 
sent to New Orleans from New England and the Ohio river, would, at 
many points on this river, build a large manufacturing town, and fur- 
nish it with a working capital. 

At our coal fields on the Ohio are the best of building materials — 
common clay, fire clay, fire stone, and limestone are on the spot or in 
the immediate vicinity; while, underlying the coal, is a stratum of sand- 
stone, with a single stratification which splits readily, is soft in the quar- 
ry and hardens on exposure to the atmosphere. This is now being ta- 
ken for the construction of the public works at Memphis, and is pro- 
nounced equal in durability to the same character of stone used in the 
construction of Trinity church. New York, while it is cut more readily. 

Here, then, on the banks of the Ohio and its tributaries, and especi- 
ally at Cannelton, we have all the natural elements of a manufactu- 
ring district: cheap fuel, cheap living, cheap land, cheap stone, clay and 
timber, cheap raw materials, cheap transportation, in a healthy country, 
in the centre of a great market; and, besides, we have good laws and 
light taxes. 

Where else, in the wide world, are all these advantages found in 
combination? 

The artificial elements of a manufacturing district are capital; 

Labor and skill in all the departments depending on each other; 

Reputation, or, as it is sometiriies termed — good will; — and a cond\ 



41 

tion of sociehj and code of laios adapted to the permanent emplotjme7it 
of labor and capital in mamifacturing. 

First of Capital. There arc three disthict epochs in the history of 
manufacturers — 

Tha first is typified by the Arab of the desert with his warp stretched 
from pegs stuck in the sand, and by the early emigrant at her wheel or 
loom. The manufacturer here has grown the material and will wear 
the product. 

The second is where one or more unite capital and skill, under some 
form or other of copartnership, to manufacture what others have grown 
and others will consume. 

In the West we have reached this stage, which, in this country at 
least, will not admit of great extension; because partners often disagree, 
and at the dissolution of the partnership by death or otherwise, the con- 
cern has to be re-organized; and because the father is rarely sure that 
his son will have similar taste or skill to employ capital advantageously 
in the mill. 

In Europe, society is much divided into castes, and the son is trained 
up to follow the calling of his father. In France we see the same 
brand on the wine cask that was noted a century ago; so in England 
the sign of a shop often occupies its place without change through sev- 
eral generations. In such a state of society, joint or family interests 
may be sufficiently strong to give permanency and profit to a manufac- 
tory requiring a large outlay of fixed capital. 

This system was tried at the East and was soon abandoned as unsuit- 
able to our people and institutions, and as soon as it was evident that 
the business of spinning and weaving cotton could be made permanent 
and profitable, the shrewd and calculating New Englanders passed to 
the third, or golden age, in manufacturing; and it is to the well-consid- 
ered system of Lowell and his associates, and the working plans drafted 
by them, that New England is now indebted for her eminent success 
and the largest part of her present wealth and importance. 

That system is, 

The association of capital, protected by liberal charters, and bin- 
der the tnanagemcnt of Superintendents of high character, Over- 
seers carefully selected, and Directors in lohom the pxiblic have entire 
confidence. 

This system, which has worked so well elsewhere, is worthy of our 
adoption; wherever it has been tried the results have been the same; it 
has stood the test of a quarter of a century and it does not require the 
gift of prophecy to predict the same result here. 

It is admirably adapted to our institutions and the character of our 
people. 

It is the democratic system, — for by it the hundred dollars of 'he poor 
man, invested in the stock of the corporation, draws as large a dividend 
as the hundred dollars of the rich man: it is tlie system safe for the 
public, — for it requires at the outset a capital sufficient for its purposes 
and asks no credit; and safe for the stockholder, as he only risks his 
stock and cannot well be ruined by the mismanagement or knavery of 

4* 



42 

associates; this is the system which gives surety to the operative ioi' 
his wages, and to the agriculturalist for the price of the food furnished 
by him to the operative; and the results of its adoption here will be seen 
in lessening the cost of fabrics our necessities require, — in increasing the 
amount of our productive capital, — in enlarging the number of profita- 
ble employments of our young men of capital and enterprise, and in 
giving us an important home market for our raw materials and provis- 
ions. 

The way in which this system works, and why it works well will be 
seen hereafter; but under it, as perhaps every reflecting man will admit, 
the West has already abundance of capital for the purpose. It is not 
expected that our very rich men will leave their comfortable homes for 
new positions where there are peculiar natural advantages and where 
manufacturing can be made most profitable; or that they will personally 
superintend the details of making cotton or any other fabrics; nor can it 
be expected that they will risk the earnings of years to the management 
of a distant co-partner or agent. 

To manufacture cotton, or indeed any other great staple, at the most 
profit we must do a large business; the cotton mill of 10,000 spindles 
will make goods probably ten per cent cheaper than one of 1,000 
spindles; the first requires a capital of,, say $300,000; now it would be 
preposterous to make the attempt to get a Lexington capitalist to furnish 
ihat large sum of money to any man or for any purpose, however great 
the "paper profits" might appear, or however strong might be the faith 
of the capitalist in the general profits in the business proposed: it would 
be equally preposterous to ask three hundred men to contribute $1,000 
each, and also their individual skill and labor, to any copartnership con- 
cern. But, if you start twenty mills under the guardianship of the same 
men who so satisfactorily manage our Bank and Insurance capital and 
under the direct superintendence of a man of unquestionable capacity 
and integrity, and with the checks of Treasurer, Overseers, &c., where 
there is no liability beyond the capital invested, and where the stock 
promises large dividends, you will find the rich man taking his risks in 
each mill; while the man of less capital will follow the example to the 
extent of his means. They who construct the buildings or furnish the 
materials and machinery,, and they who wish to sell the goods or obtain 
employmer.t in or about the mill will be glad to take all the stock they 
can afford to hold. Labor and materials to a considerable extent will 
be equal to money. 

It is said that steamboat capital does not, on the average, pay 6 per 
cent per annum — yet how easy is it, on any point of our river, to start 
a boat costing from thirty to fifty thousand dollars — in this the shares are 
rarely over 1-16 — but in a cotton mill each share would be, say 1-3000. 
The boat owners are the builders of the hull'and the engine, the officers 
and the commission merchant ; would it not be far easier to raise the 
capital of the mill and paj-tially in the same way, with anticipated pro- 
fits of 20 to 40 per cent, and in a business attended with less risk and 
giving constant employment, and at the same place? Let those who 
scorn small contributions to great works remember that most glorious of 



43 

all monuments, the Polish mound, made by a grateful people, of whon-i 
each contributed but a spadeful of eartli — or the more recent instance of 
the subscription of half a million of dollars by Irish laborers, which 
ensured the completion of the western rail-road from Boston to Albany. 

It is believed by many that there has been an increase of specie cap- 
ital in the Mississippi valley since 1S36 of nearly one hundred million 
of dollars, and that its annual increase is from ten to fifteen millions. 
It is said by those who have the best means of knowing the facts that 
something like five millions of specie are annually brought into the 
West by European emigrants. Some shrewd calculators make the ex- 
ports of Indiana and Illinois over their imports from six to seven 
millions of dollars per annum. It will be remembered that the Gov- 
ernment does not now drain us of specie through its land offices, and 
that we are now nearly freed from Eastern land speculators. Our in- 
dependence is shown in the strength of our banks and the favorable 
state of our domestic and foreign exchanges. In the interior, the rate 
of interest has fallen to 6, and in some sections to 5, per cent per 
annum; while in our cities and large towns our banks furnish all the 
facilities desired for legitimate business transactions. 

We have so long been dependent on the East fox money capital that 
it is difficult for us to look for it in any other direction. We have now 
sufficient strength to stand erect, but have scarcely learned the use of 
our feet. 

But, perhaps, Ave are to look to the South for capital, either in money 
or its equivalent cotton. The cotton planter for years has been cha- 
grined that he has made less in producing than the iNew Englander has 
in manufacturing the cotton ; and he will gladly avail himself of the 
opportunity, now perhaps first presented to him in a practical shape, of 
making the manufacturers' profit. He could not manufacture in Glas- 
gow or Manchester; and Lowell Avas too far distant for him to invest in 
her mills. At home he has not the labor, power, conveniences or skill. 
The lower Ohio is within his reach. (I refer to the planters on the Mis- 
sissippi and its tributaries.) Here he can, while overlooking the 
management of the mill, mingle business with pleasure during the sum- 
mer. Many may smile at the idea of getting surplus capital from a cot- 
ton planter, and may exclaim, mortgages, execution, advances, &c., yet 
let me assure such that the southwest is in quite a different condition 
now from what it was ten years since. Let them remember that not 
only has the cotton crop vastly increased in that period, but that the fa- 
cilities for obtaining credits in New Orleans have been greatly diminish, 
ed, while at home there are now comparatively no such facilities. Ma- 
ny of the planters now consign their crop to Louisville, Cincinnati, 
Pittsburgh, the Eastern cities and even to Liverpool, and neither ask nor 
wish for an advance. Let it also be remembered that the cotton plan- 
ter has nothing at home to invest his surplus in, save more land and 
slaves. He has no canals or railroads, houses, or ships to build; he has 
no banks to deposit his money in even ; he does not wish to take mer- 
cantile risks or to leave his money long in the hands of those who do 
take such risks; would he not gladly invest in mills near him, where hi? 



44 

own cotton would be spun and woven, and on its way to market and on 
his way to the springs or his summer residence? Indeed he might find 
a healthy summer residence within sight of the mill. He would realize 
the value of his cotton (indeed trebled in value) from the goods before 
he could get his returns from that consigned to the Liverpool factor. 

This direct consignment is, of course, the most favorable for the plan- 
ter. When the New Orleans or New York speculator buys the cotton 
and cOHsigns it, the planter, of course pays, or rather loses, the inter- 
mediate profits. 

On this reliance on the South I have not only to state its reasonable- 
ness, but the positive assurances of very many planters who have sur- 
plus capital, that they and their friends are ready to take stock in cotton 
mills just as soon as they, who practically understand the details of put- 
ting up and managing mills, will obtain the charters and superiniend- 
ants and contractors. 

But we cannot expect cotton mills to leap into existence at once. 
Several years will be required to erect buildings, obtain machinery, &C. 
Then the first that are started will make profits to build others; besides, 
the moment we show the East that we have systematically and energeti- 
cally undertaken to manufacture our cotton and hemp and to eat our 
corn and pork at home, the building of new mills there will be checked, 
and the men of capital and enterprise there, who wish to engage in the 
business, will bring their capital, skill, and labor here. 

It will be seen under the next head what of these requisites we may 
expect from abroad. 



LABOR AND SKILL. 

The first, and, as is supposed, the strongest objection made to the pre- 
sent commencement of manufactories in the West, is the scarcity and 
high price of labor. 

In view of the millions of acres we have untilled, labor is indeed 
scarce — but in view of the prices obtained for our agricultural surplus 
products, labor is abundant. 

The moneij price of mechanical labor is now actually less in the 
settled and healthy sections of the West than in New England; the ave- 
rage of wages in all employments and positions is certainly not more 
than 10 per cent, higher. The day laborer in Boston gets $1 — here 
75 cents — farm hands here, $8 to $16 per month: there $15 to $25. 
But this money, thus paid, is the measure of two values — first, of wa- 
ges; and second, of what it purchases for the laborer. In this view 
labor is cheaper here than in any country where the bread fruit and 
plantain do not grow. He who labors for pay looks at the result of re- 
ceipts and expenditures of the year, or of life. He can live here equally 
well at one third less than in New England and at one halt of what he 
could in England. He can therefore work here from 33 to 50 percent, 
less than in the two great manufacturing countries of the world. If we 
give the same wages, the laborer can lay up from 33 to 50 per cent. 



45 

more here than in those countries, and if he buys land with his earnings, 
he gets ten, or fifty, or one hundred times as many acres here as he could 
c;et there. 

All this, says the objector, is very plain, but we have not enough ar- 
tisans here for the new employment, and if you call them from abroad, 
will they come? The answer is in the fact that whenever and where- 
cver we have furnished profitable and certain employment in the West, 
the call for labor has been promptly supplied. The operatives in cot- 
ton mills have not come, because we have built no mills for them — 
capital has not come from New England for investment in cotton mills, 
because it has yielded so large an interest at home: and it has not 
come from England, because of ihe distance and the absence of direct 
communication between the two points and the ignorance on the part of 
the English manufacturer of our advantages. 

We are to look first for superintendents and overseers among our best 
men. As we can afford to pay very high prices, it is not doubted that, 
the men can be had, and we cannot admit that the Anglo-Saxon here 
has not as much enterprise and intellect as in the East or in England. 
The salary of a superintendent of a Lowell corporation ranges from 
^2,000 to $6,000 per annum, and this commands the highest grade of 
talent in New England. It takes the lawyer from his practice and the 
judge from the bench. The average salaries of the Governors of the 
New England Slates is $1,208 per annum, and of Judges of the Su- 
preme Courts is $1,415 per annum. $2,000 here is equal to $3,000 
there. Will not this price command the same talent here? If not, we 
have the surplus fund of savings in transportation so to increase the 
amount until we can draw the Lowell superintendent from the Lowell 
mill. 

For ordinary operatives we have three sources of supply : 

First — domestic. In the opinion of some fifty manufacturers of 
whom I have sought information, there will not be the slightest difilcul- 
ty in obtaining male operatives at home, and at as low a rate of Avages 
as that paid in New England, and as little difliculty in obtaining fe- 
males, if the proper system is adopted. One of the oldest and most 
successful manufacturers in the interior of Kentucky says that he has no 
difficulty in obtaining any number desired for his cotton mill, and could 
increase this number to a great extent. At Cincinnati the supply is 
greater than the demand, and at the largest cotton mill there, applica- 
tions for employment are only received on Monday morning. In Lou- 
isville, our clothing merchants, printers, bookbinders, paper makers, &c. 
hire as cheaply as in Boston; and those Avho have the best means of 
forming an opinion on the subject, and without an exception, say that 
the supply of such labor will be greater than the demand. 

It may be necessary to state to those who have never seen or read the 
details of a cotton mill, that it does not require as long an apprentice- 
ship at the spindle or power loom as in most employments; from thirty 
to sixty days is long enough to give both theory and practice. The 
average period of residence of the female operatives at the New Eng- 
land manufacturing towns is only about four years, yet there is more 



AG 

and better work actually done in the same time by these operatives than 
is obtained from any operatives in the same employment in the world. 

The next source of supply is from the East, and particularly from 
New England. 

Twenty years a^^o I came from the center of the cotton manufactur- 
ing district of New England, and since have had every means of know- 
ing the feelings of every class of persons there engaged in manufactur- 
ing; and I say with knowledge and with confidence that, were 1 to go 
there now and advertise in the newspapers, or even put placards on the 
guide posts at the road crossings, that 1 was authorized by responsible 
corporations, who had made and would conduct cotton mills on the 
Lowell system, to contract for the immediate employment of male and 
female operatives for those mills, and at the same wages paid at Lowell, 
and that the place of employment was at an healthy posiiion on the/ret 
bank of La Belle Riviere, for every hundred desired there would be a 
thousand applications. 

The father would come because he could exchange his few paternal 
acres for broad fields in the West; the son would come to a country 
offering greater freedom of action and a wider scope to his ambitious 
plans; and the daughter would come from the novelty of change, and 
because, of the female sex in New England — the supply is greater than 
the demand. 

The next source of supply is from Europe, and particularly from the 
manufacturing districts of England. To show that I do not merely re- 
ly on conjecture and general reasoning, I bring the facts from the best 
English authority known. 

In 1840, a select committee, of which Mr. Hume was chairman, was 
raised in the House of Commons, to take into consideration the general 
condition of the manufacturing interests of Great Britain and the policy 
of modifying its system of import duties. A mass of testimony was given 
to this committee by the officers of the most important boards of trade, 
and chambers of commerce, and by the leading manufacturers. Although 
neither the committee nor the witnesses stated, in direct terms, that the 
manufacturing prosperity of England was on the wane, and that she 
could not, besides paying the cost of transportation, compete with the 
cheap food and na ural advantages of many other countries (the United 
States for instance) which had been her best customers; it is quite appa- 
rent that such were their impressions, and that they were only deterred 
from stating die truth boldly by the fear of giving encouragement to 
competition abroad. Let the reader judge from the following extracts. 

"Your committee giither from the evidence that has been laid Ijefore them, 
tliat while the prosperity of our own manufactures i.s not to be traced to ben- 
efits derived from the exchision of foreign rival manufactures, so neither is 
the competition of continental manufactures to be traced to a protective system. 
They are told that the most vigorous and successful of the manufactures oji 
the continent have grown, not out of peculiar favor shown to them by legisla- 
tion, hut from those natural and spontaneous adcantnges icliich are associated with 
labor and capital in certain localities, and which cannot he transferred elsewhere at 
the mandate of the legislature, or at the uill of the vfamtfact'ur&r. Yeur commit- 



47 

tee see rccisou to believe, that tlie most prosperous fabrics are those which 
flourish without the aid of special favors." 

That is, when these fabrics arc made where the "natural and spon- 
taneous advantages" exist; where (as in tiiis valley) God has given nil 
the "special favors'' that the manufacturer needs. 

"With reference to the influence of the protective system upon wages, and 
on the condition of the !al)orer, your committee have to observe that, as tii<- 
j)resstn-e of foreign competition is lieaviest on tliose anicles in the production 
of which th(' rate of wages is lowest, so it is obvious, in a country exporting 
as nuich as luigland does, that other advantages may more than compensate 
lor an apptinnt advantage in the money price of labor. The countries in 
svhich the rate of wages is lowest, are not always those which manufacture 
most successlull_y.'' 

For illustration: When cotton is at 8 cents per lb. in New Orleans, 
the differeiK^e between its cost to the Louisville and the Manchaster 
manufacturer, for a mill of 10,000 spindles, would be about $25,960 
per annum. At our rate of wages about ($25,600 would be paid yearly 
for labor in the mill. We therefore can pay the laborer double price, 
and be on an equality, if we had no other advantage. 

Impost duties were higher in England than in France, yet the Spit- 
alfields' weaver had to yield to the weaver of Lyons, because food was 
cheaper at Lyons than at Spitalfields.* 

Egypt grows cotton, and the Pacha of Egypt undertook to manufac- 
ture it laigely; he selected the best cotton and paid his own price for it; 
he imported the best machineryand themost skillful managers; hegaihcred 
the strongest and most active of his Fellahs and Arabs, and brought down 



*It would seem that no country can largely manu/acture foi export when it 
has to import food 

The full and short time of the Lancaster cotton mills is measured on a sli- 
ding scale that has almost precisely corresponded with that at the Liverpool 
custom house. 

The Middlesex (Massachusetts) mills are now closing, chirfly because the 
supply of food in Massachusetts is far less than the demand. The operative is 
ready to remove from positions where beef is 15 cents per pound, to where it 
can be had at 5 cents per pound. 

The chief material that is combined in cotton cloth, bar iron. &c.. &c., is food. 
The locus in quo of the manufacturer is where, other things being equal, the ma- 
terials required in and about the fabric can be brought together at the least cost. 

The truth of this proposition seems obvious: yet there are many people on 
the Ohio river who mantain that, inasmuch as we have imported our black 
walnut furniture, we should continue to send our walnut logs 3,000 miles round 
the capes of Florida and have them made into breakfast tables, and in a sea- 
hoard work-shop, for our own use— and there are many statesmen who contend 
that it is good economy to send our cotton and corn to Manchester and Glasgow, 
and take our pay in sheetings and shirtings, when it requires five times the la- 
bor to transport the corn, the cotton, and the cloth, than to make the cloth. We 
consume more coal in ge ting our staples and goods to and from a foreign mar- 
ket than is required to move the machinery where the goods are made. The 
carriers eat more food than the mill operatives. 

We should and must manufacture at home because our labor is so costlv, 
and because so much labor is required in the transportation of our heavy gti- 
ples to our present markets. 



48 

slaves from Dongola and Sennaar, fixed their wages at thirty paras (leas 
than 4 cents) a day, ^nd compelled them to labor under the bastinado ; 
but, even in the rudest fabrics, he could not compete at home with the 
English and Swiss manufncturer; because his laborers were ignorant; 
because compulsion could not beget ambition to excel; and because re- 
wards (had they been offered) which could not be safely invested, and 
which could be taken away by the same hand that gave, were not in- 
ducements sufficiently strong to make the indolent active, or to fit the 
unintelligent for employments which require mental energy and mechan- 
ical care. 

"And your committee are persuaded that the best service that could be ren- 
dered to the industrious classes of the community, would be to extend the field 
of labor, and of demand for labor, by an extension of our conunerce. 

"Your committee further recommend, that, as speedily as possible, the whole 
system of ditFerential duties and of all restrictions should be reconsidered, and 
that a change be therein etiected in such a manner that existing interests may 
suffer as little as possible in the transition to a more liberal and equitable state 
of things * » * the simplifications they recommend would vastly facilitate 
the transactions of commerce," &c., &c. 

That is, to rely as their fathers did, and before their manufacturing 
age, on "the wooden walls of old England." Nature seems to have 
made the coasts, harbors, and estuaries of Great Britain for a peculiarly 
maritime people. Here is her natural strength. Her energies were 
partially turned aside from this interest, for half a century, by the in- 
ventions of Arkwright, Newcomen, Watt, and others, and i'rom the pos- 
session of the cheapest fuel the7i known, by which these inventions 
could be turned to profit. But it is evident that Mr. Hume and his 
committee think more of the fisheries and the carrying trade than of 
cotton cloth as the sources of future support and profit to England. 

Evidence. — Extracts from the evidence of Mr. McGregor, one of the secreta- 
ries of the Board of Trade; Dr. Bowring; Mr. Hume, of the Board of Cus- 
toms and Board of Trade; and J. Benj. Smith, President of the Board of 
Conunerce of Manchester, and others: 

"The German grazier now exchanges his cattle and his beef for fabrics with 
the home manufacturer, and the corn dealer and miller provide bread for the 
manufacturer, and take and use his goods in return; they produce, in most in- 
stances, as cheaply as we do, notwithstanding our skill and cheap coal, because 
they have abundance to maintain life within themselves. The artisan, in the 
cotton manufacture, can support himself with equal comfort in Germany at 
half, and in Westphalia, Bavaria, and Austria, at less than half of what it costs 
the English artisan." 

The Germans and Bavarians come yearly to the West, in thousands, 
attracted by our cheap lands and cheap living — and we have far cheaper 
coal than can be found in England. 

"The icorkman of England has to pay, in one icay or another, more than lialf 
Ids wages in taxation. A workman in Saxony, who is almost entirely free from 
tax, can live as well upon .5s. a week as an Enghsh artisan can live upon 9s. a 
week." 

Yet one of the inducements that the West holds out, and which 
brings the Saxon emigrant, is light taxes. 



49 

"The slate of Swiss manufactures is now such that their cotton goods come 
mto competition with our-i, and meet us with very great advantages, in our 
Eastern markets: and they are sent to the United States and the Brazil.s in very 
hirge quantities, although the cost of carriage on the cotton must cost them 
double what the Lancaster and Lancastershire manufacturer pays." 

Light taxes and cheap living explain the succccs of the Swiss manu- 
facturer. 

"Of late years there is a tendency for capital and labor to quit this and settle 
in otiier countries; in so much so, that all the cotton factories in the neighbor- 
hood of Vienna, in consequence of the cheapness of provision^, are in a verv 
fair and prosperous condition; but the directors and foremen of these manufacto- 
ries are chiefly Englishmen or Scotchmen, from the cotton manufactories of 
Manchester and (ilasgovv. We find in France, that the principal foreman at 
llouen and in the cotton factories are from Lancaster; you find it in Belgium, 
in Holland, and in the neighborhood of Liege; you find British capital going 
into France, Belgium, and Germany, to a very great amount; and this very 
British capital employed there producing manufactures which meet us in the 
markets of the Alechterranean, the United States, Porto Rico, Cuba, South 
America, and the F.ast Indies." 

"Agents are constantly employed in the manitfacturing districts, Birming- 
ham, Nottingham, Leeds, Manchester, and Glasgow, in selecting the ablest 
workmen to go to foreign countries. 

"We now cannot export to Switzerland Nos. of yarn under 110; the same 
process is going on in other countries." 

"In Lancaster the w^ages have not increased with the prico of provisions; 
wages never increase with the price of provisions, they always decline with a 
rise in the price of provisions, because a high price of food always diminishes 
the demand for labor, and the rate of wages is determined by the demand for 
labor." 

In England the cotton weaver can do nothing but weave cotton; and 
his children are taught only to weave cotton. As the manufacturing 
operative, for several generations, was better paid than the agriculturist, 
this class has increased so as to outstrip the demand; the producers of 
food are now fewer than the consumers: the ratio of increase in both is 
the same, and, in consequence, tlie price of food must increase and the 
means of buying food must decrease. 

Here, and under our system, the demand for any particular labor 
regulates the supply. The four years labor in the mill, instead of inca- 
pacitating the operaave for other employments, has a very decided ten- 
dency to insure him success in other employments. In England the 
cotton spinner never expects to be a freeholder or to marry a freeholder; 
here the proceeds of labor in the mill are generally intended for the cur- 
chase of land and the necessaries in and about the house of the land 
owner. 

The English rule will continue to obtain there, and, with the modifi- 
cations suggested, is true here. 

"The lower price of provisions indiice many peopie not engaged in maim- 
factures to settle abroad. There are 'our or five millions (twenty to thirty mil- 
hons of dollirs) annually drawn from the incomes of England spent in France 
alone, and a great amount in Italy; the city of Naples is almost entirely sup- 
ported by English expenditure." 

5 



50 

Much of this money doubtless goes to support the vices of Paris, but 
still an enormous amount is paid out by those who seek cheap food 
abroad. 

Now if the nobleman, with a rent roll of thousands, goes to Italy to 
save some hundreds, what shall prevent the Manchester weaver from 
coming here (if he can get the means to remove) where he can have "a 
chicken in the pot" every day instead of only on Christmas and other 
church festivals; and here, with more and better food, he would do more 
and better work, and would soon catch the spirit of our own people and 
fit himself for independence on a farm. 

Here are the fads which show us what of labor and capital we may 
expect from abroad whenever we choose to take the proper means to 
obtain it. That but little of English capital and of this kind of labor 
has hitherto come to this valley is not to be wondered at. ] need not 
quote authorities to show how profoundly ignorant the English generally 
have been of the West. How few of them who have thought of Ken. 
tucky but in connection with the long rifle, and wouM not rather have 
trusted themselves to the crise of the Malay pirate than to the terrible 
Bowie-knife of Arkansas or Mississippi. Until the last year, when they 
were so liberally supplied with the corn of Indiana and Illinois, how 
few of them had ever heard of these States. Within the last twelve 
months, the lower and middle classes of Europe have acquired more 
k«owledge of us and of our country than they ever had before. The 
immense quantities of breadstuff's and all kinds of provisions which we 
threw on them, on an unexpected demand, astonished them as much as 
the fall of manna did the Israelites; while the triumphs of our volun- 
teers in Mexico gave them the highest opinion of our population. The 
contributions we sent them so freely, removed many of their prejudices 
and disposed them to think kindly of us. The bravery and success of 
our troops won their admiration. They see that our volunteers can fight 
as well before stone walls as behind cotton bales. A few years since 
they would have preferred employment among the French, "their natu- 
ral enemies," and incurred the necessity of learning a language their 
class has always despised, to accepting employment here; now thousands 
of them w^ould gladly come to the land where bread is so cheap and 
men are so brave. 

There is but little of English capital and artisan labor in New Eng- 
land, but the reason is obvious: it will be remembered that, until the 
last ten years, England could profitably employ both at home, and since 
New England had nearly enough of both; and, besides, the Englishman 
and the Scotsmen, when they do go abroad, prefer to go where they can 
lead and not where they would be obliged to follow. Here, the posi- 
tion which their capital and skill would take, would not only gratify 
their pride but command the desired profits. Our ships built at and tak- 
ino- their departure from Western ports, and laden with Western pro- 
ducts, will soon be well known at "Lloyd's," and every year will in- 
crease the variety and reputation of the products we ship to Liverpool 
and Glasgow. 



51 

Tlie statistics of emigration are even now showirjg the results of the 
causes here enumerated. 

The efforts of this committee and of the advocates of free trade, and 
the clamors of the people for the removal of restrictions on imports of 
food, have vastly changed the policy of England. The taxes on the 
manufacturer are now lighter and food is cheaper; but, while the church 
and poor rates are imposed and taxes are actually collected to pay inter- 
est on their national debt, it is preposterous to contend that Englishmen 
can compete with our cheaper food and cheaper power and nominal 
taxes, when employed in manufacturing our peculiar staples. 

The third requisite is: 

ReinUation or good iclll, and a condition of society and laws adapt- 
ed to a manufacturing district. 

In other countries the "good will" of a position is ofien of more value 
than the capital invested, and reputation of a particular article has fre- 
quently outlived for years its intrinsic worth. But, in this country, 
where so many changes are constantly occurring, that "good will" is 
rarely set down as part of one's assets, and reputation seldom passes a 
single generation, and neither has as much influence in fixing the price 
of cotton goods, bar iron, or common jeans, as of Rodgers' knives or 
Collins' axes. Whatever of eithei our Western manufacturer deserves 
and desires to have, can be obtained by the appropriation of a small 
part of his savings for the use of your advertising columns. 

It is admitted that no manufactory can succeed except under the pro- 
tection of good laws, well administered, and with the influence of a 
controlling class of society favorable to such pursuits. 

There are two kinds of manufacturing employments, and each re- 
quires a different position. 

Of the population of London, Paris, and New York, perhaps a large 
majority are really manufacturers, for the jeweler, engraver, shoemaker, 
milliner, &c., &c., are really as much manufacturers as the weavers of 
cotton. This class requires and obtains a support from the classes of 
society who mainly distribute unproductive capital, and congregate in 
large commercial or fashionable cities. Many also can only find em- 
ployment of really productive capital in such cities where there is an 
endless division and subdivision of labor, and where sales are made to 
order; such, for instance, as the optician, the mathematical instrument 
maker, &c. These classes need be under no particular discipline. 
They can choose their own hours for, and places of labor, and, as they 
work generally for money, they require no special protection from law. 

Quite otherv/ise is it with what we usually term the manufacturing 
class, those who carry on, or work in large establishments which re- 
quire heavy capital, both fixed and active, and where the labor of each 
operative in each establishment is dependent on, and is in iramediatp 
combination with the labor of others. 

In all such establishments it is generally the fractions of savings in 
each department that produce dividends or profits. To make these sav- 
ings, the human machinery in the mill should run as smoothly and with 
almost as little interruption as the iron. 



52 

It is mainly to the perfect organization and esprit de corps of the 
overseers and operatives in their manufacturing towns that the New Eng- 
land manufacturer owes his remarkable success. This cannot be had in 
places where other interests preponderate. 

Manual labor, to be profitable, muU be respectable, and even fash- 
ionable. The overseer of a cotton, or any other mill is not contented 
unless his rank in society is as high as that of his neighbor in any other 
employment. The factory girl works cheerfully and steadily where all 
her associates have the same hours of labor — the same amusements — the 
same objects of thought — who live in the same manner, and under the 
same general rules. Here the necessary restraints are not irksome, be- 
cause they bear on all alike. To those who have ever been at Lowell 
and seen the practical workings of a perfectly organized manufacturing 
society, I refer for the correctness of these positions. 

If we adopt the same system, our manufacturing towns or cities will 
be peculiarly such, and there will be of necessity the condition of society 
required, and this society will make the code of city policy best adapted 
to its wants. 

So far as general laws are concerned, it will hardly be doubted but 
that the laws of Kentucky and Indiana are as favorable to manufactures 
as those of Massachusetts. The Legislatures of these states have always 
been ready to grant charters, and to pass any law required for the en- 
couragement and protection of such interests; Indiana has now the very 
same general manufacturing law as that under which the Massachu- 
setts manufacturer has been so profitably working for the last sixteen 
years. 

The administration and execution of the law will depend on the 
character of each district. 

As I firmly believe that the Lowell system is the only one which 
should be encouraged — I had almost said tolerated — in this country; as 
it is the only one which, vv'hile it will ensure large profits to the capi- 
talists and high wages to the operative, is entirely congenial to the spirit 
of our institutions, and will not bring upon us and entail upon our pos- 
terity the thousand political, social, and moral evils, which other sys- 
tems in other countries have engendered, and as I cannot so well de- 
scribe what its details are as others have already done, I take the follow- 
ing extracts from a remarkably well written book, prepared with great 
care by Rev. Mr. Miles, entitled "Lowell as it was and is:" 



53 



Erfracts" from 'Loicdl as it was, and as it is," by Rev. Henry A. MUes; pub- 
lished in 1845. 

A LOWELL CORPORATION. 

On the banks of the river, or of a canal, stands a row of mills, numbering, 
on dillcri'nt corporations, from two to five. A few rods from these, are Ion:: 
blocks of brick boarding hons(!s, containini,' a snilicient nnmlier of tenements 
to accoiimiodate tlie most of tlie opcrativtjs employed by the CorporatioiL Be- 
tween the boarding-houses and tlu! mills is a line of a one story brick building, 
containing the counting room, superintendent's room, clerks atid store rooms-. 
The mill yard is so surrounded by enclosures, that the only access is through 
the counting room in full view of those whose business it is to see that no im- 
proper persons intrude themselves upon the premises. 

Thus the superintendent, from his room, has the whole of the Corporation 
under his eye. On the one side are the boarding-housf-s, nil of which are un- 
der his care, and are rented only to known and approved tenants; on the other 
side are the mills, in each room of which he has stationed some carefully se- 
lected overseer, who is held responsible for the work, good order, and proper 
management of his room. Within the yard, also, are repair shops, each de- 
partment of which, whether of iron, leather, or wood, has its head overseer. 
There is a superintendent of the yard, who, with a number of men under his 
rare, has charge of all the outdoor work of the establishment. There is a 
head watchman, having oversight of the night watch, who are required to pass 
through every room in the mills a prescribed number of times every night. 

This, then, is the little world over which the superintendent presides. .As- 
sisted by his clerk, who keeps the necessary records, by the paymaster, who, 
receiving his funds from the treasurer of the Corporation, disburses their wa- 
ges to the operatives, and not forgetting even the "runner," as he is called, 
who does the errands of the office, the superintenc^ent'.^ mind regulates all; his 
character inspires all; his plans, matured and decided by the directors of the 
company, who visit hiin every week, control all. He presides over one of the 
most perfect systems of subdivided and yet well-defined res^ionsibility. Of 
course every thing depends upon the kind of man who fills such a post as this. 
No pecuniary considerations have ever stood in the way of the appointment, 
by the Corporations, of the best men who could be found. To their remarka- 
ble and universally acknowledged success in this respect, to their selection of 
individuals highly distinguished both for their general force of character, and 
for their integrity, conscientiousness, and magnanimity, is Lowell chiefly in- 
debted, both for the profitableness of her operations, and the character which 
•ho has sustained. 



A LOVVKLL BOARniNG-HOUSK. 

Each of the long blocks of boarding-houses is divided into six or eight tene- 
ments, and are generally three stories high. These tenements are finished off 
in a style much above the common farm-houses of the country, and more near- 
ly resemble the abodes of respectable mechanics in rural villages. They are 
all furnished with an abundant supply of water, and with suitable vards and 
«ut-buildings. These are constantly kept clean, the buildingswell painted, and 
the premises thoroughly whitewashed every spring, at the Corporation's ex- 
pense. The front room is usually the common eating-room of the house, and 
the kitchen is in the rear. The keeper of the house, (commonly a widow, with 
her family of children,) has her parlor in some part of the establishment: and 
in some houses there is a sitting-room for the use of the boarders. The re- 



^In several of the fore<roing: articles reference has been made to the Lowell system. The5e 
extracts, from the very clever book of Jlr. Miles, show what that f vstera is, how it work?, and 
wiy it works well. 



3 



54 

mainder of the apartments are sleeping-rooms. In each of these are lodged 
two, four, and in some cases six boarders; and the room has an air of neatness 
and comfort, exceeding what most of the occupants have been accustomed to 
in their paternal homes. 

Operatives are under no compulsion to board in one tenement rather than 
another; it is for the interest of the boarding-house keeper, therefore, to have 
her bill of fare attractive. And then, as to the character of these boarding- 
house keepers themselves, on no point is the superintendent more particular 
than on this. He has generally a great liberty of choice of tenants. Apphca- 
tions for these situations are very immerous. The rents of the company's 
houses are purposely low, averaging only from one-third to one-half of what 
similar houses rent for in the city. In times of pressure a part of this low 
rent, and in some instances the whole of it, has been remitted. There is no 
intention on the jjart of the Corporatio^i to make any revenue from these 
houses. They are a great source of annual expense. But the advantages of 
supervision are more than an equivalent for this. No tenant is admitted who 
has not hitherto borne a good character, and who does not continue to sustain 
it. In many cases the tenant has long been keeper of the house, for six, eight, 
or twelve years, and is well known to hundreds of her girls as their adviser 
and friend and second mother. Though the price of board is low, at present 
but one dollar and twenty-five cents for female, and one dollar and seventy-five 
cents for male boardors, yet many of them, aided by the cheap rents just allud- 
ed to, and by prudent and judicious management, have paid off" old debts, 
have educated sons and daughters, and have made a comfortable provision for 
old age. 

It is this system to which we especially referred in our previous chapter on 
Waltham. By it the care and influence of the superintendent are extended 
over his operatives, while they are out of the mill, as well as while they are in 
it. Employing chiefly those who have no permanent residence in Lowell, but 
are only temporary boarders, upon any embarrassment of affairs they return to 
their country homes, and do not sink down here a helpless caste, clamoring for 
work, stai"ving unless employed, and hence ready for a riot, for the destruction 
of property, and repeating here the scenes enacted in the manufacturing villa- 
ges of England. To a very great degree the future condition of Lowell is de- 
pendent upon a faithful adhesion to this system; and it vvfill deserve the serious 
consideration of those old towns which are now introducing steam mills, 
whether, if they do not provide boarding-houses, and employ chiefly other ope- 
ratives than resident ones, they be not bringing in the seeds of future and 
alarming evil. 



Precise statements will hereafter be given of the average pay of male and 
female hands. Only some general views of ihis subject will now be offered. 
Operatives entering the mill at once receive pay. In other arts they are ob- 
liged to go through some expensive process of learning. The young woman 
from the country, employed at first as a spare hand, and a pupil to the business, 
receives fifty-five cents per week besides her board. Thus the companies edu- 
cate nearly all their hands, and as these hands are entirely changed every few 
years, they have at all times thousands in their jjay as mere learners. The fe- 
male operative will, in a few months, earn four and six pence, one dollar, one 
dollar and a half, per week, according to her dexterity and diligence. While 
the average pay of all female operatives is, at the present time, about one dol- 
lar and ninety-three cents per week, beside board, instances are not uncommon 
of their earning three and four dollars per week. 



COMFORT AND HEALTH. 

The general and comparative good health of the girls employed in the mills 
here, and their freedom from serious disease, have long been subjects of com- 



55 

moil remark amonj; our most intelligent and experienced physicians Tla 
maniifacturimr pupuUitiuii of this citti is the healthiest portion of the. pojiulation, and 
there' is no reason wliy tiiis should not be the case. They are but little exposed 
to many of the strongest and most prolific causes of disease, and very many of 
the circumstances which surroun(4 and act upon them are of the most favora- 
ble hygienic character. They are regular in all their liabits. They are early 
up in the morning, and early to bed at night. Their fare is plain, substantial, 
and good, and their labor is sntliciently active, and sulTiciently light to avoid the 
evils arising from the two extremes of indolence and over-exertion. They are 
but little exposed to the sudden vicissitudes, and to the excessive lieats and 
colds of the seasons, and they are very generally free from anxious and depres- 
.sinff cares." 



MORAL POLICE OF THE CORPORATIONS. 

It has been seen what a large amount of capita! is here invested, and what 
manilbld and extensive operations this capital sets in motion. The produc- 
tiveness of these works depends upon one jiriniary and indispensable condi- 
tion — the existence of an industrious, sober, orderly, and moral class of opera- 
tives. Without this, the mills in Lowell would be worthless. Profits would 
be absorbed by cases of irregularity, carelessness, and neglect; while the exis- 
tence of any great moral exposure in Lowell would cut off the supply of help 
from the virtuous homesteads of the country. Public morals and private in- 
terests, identical in all places, are here seen to be linked together in an indisso- 
luble connection. Accordingly, the sagacity of self interest, as well as more 
disinterested considerations, has led to the adoption of a strict system of moral 
police. 

Before we proceed to notice the details of this sj'stem, there is one consider 
ration bearing upon the character of our operatives, which must all the while 
be borne in mind. IVc have no permanent factory population. This is the wide 
gulf which separates the English manufacturing towns from Lowell. Only a 
very few of our operatives have their homes in this city. The most of tJiem 
come froin tin; distant interior of the country, as will be proved by statistical 
facts which will be presented in a subsequent chapter. 

To tlie general fact, here noticed, should be added another, of scarcely les.« 
importance to a just comprehension of this subject — the female operatives in 
Lowell do not work, on an average, more than four and a half years in the facto- 
ries. They then return to their homes, and their places are taken by their sis- 
ters, or by other female friends from their neighborhood. 

Here, then, we have two important elements of difference between English 
and American operatives. The former are resident operatives, and are opera- 
tives for life, and constitute a permanent, dependent factory caste. The latter 
come from distant homes, to which in a few years they return, to be the wives 
of the farmers and mechanics of the country towns and villages. The English 
visiter to Lowell, when he finds it so hard to understand why American ope- 
ratives are so superior to those of Leeds and 3Ianchesier, will do well to re- 
member what a different class of females we have here to begin with — girls well 
educated in virtuous rural homes; nor must the Lowell manufacturer forget, 
that we forfeit the distinction, from tiiat moment, when we cease to obtain such 
girls as the operatives of the cily. 

To obtain this constant importation of female hands from the country, it is 
necessary to secure the moral protection of their characters while they are resident 
in Lowell. This, therefore, is the chief object of that moral police referred to. 
some details of which will now be given. 

No persons are employed on the Corporations who are addicted to intem- 
perance, or who are known to be guilty of any immoralities of conduct. As 
the parent of all other vices, intemperance is most carefully excluded. Abso- 
lute freedom from intoxicating liquors is understood, throughout the city, to be 
a pre-requisite to obtaining employment in the mills, and any jjerson known to 
be addicted to their use is at once dismissed. This point has not received the 



56 

attention, from writers upon the moral condition of Lowell, which it deserves; 
and we are surprized that the English traveler and divine. Dr. Scoresby, in 
his recent book upon Lowell, has given no more notice to this subject. A 
more strictly and universally temperate class of persons cannot be found, than 
th^ nine thousand operatives of this city; and the fact is as well known to all 
others living here, as it is of some honest pride among themselves. In rela- 
tion to other iuunoralities, it may be stated, that the suspicion of criminal con- 
duct, association with suspected persons, and general and habitual light beha- 
vior and conversation, are regarded as sufficient reasons for dismissions, and for 
which delinquent operatives are discharged. 

Any description oi" the moral care, studied by the Corporations, wonld bfi 
defective if it omitted a reference to the overseers. Every room in every mill 
has its first and second overseer. The former, or in his absence the latter, ha« 
the entire care of the room, taking in such operatives as he wants for the work 
of the room, assigning to them their employment, superintending each process, 
directing the repairs of disordered machinery, giving answers to questions of 
advice, and granting permissions of absence. At his small desk, near the door, 
where he ran see all who go out or come in, the overseer may generally be 
found; and he is held responsible for the good order, propriety of conduct, and 
.attention to bu.siness, of the operatives of that room. Hence, this is a post of 
much importance, and the good management of the mill is almost wholly de- 
pendent upon the character of its overseers; It is for this reason that peculiar 
care is exercised in their appointment. Raw hands, and unknown characters, 
are never placed in this office. It is attained only by those who have either 
served a regular apprenticeship as machinists in the repair shop, or have be- 
come well known and well tried, as third hands, and assistant overseers. It is 
a post for which there are always many applicants, the pay being two dollars a 
day, with a good house, owned by the company, and rented at the reduced 
charge before noticed. The overseers are almost universally married men, 
with families; and as a body, numbering abont one hundred and eighty, in all, 
are among the most permanent residents, and most trustworthy and valuable 
citizens of the place. A large number of them are members of our churches, 
and are often chosen as councilmen in the city government, and representa- 
tives in the State Legislature. The guiding and salutary influence which tliey 
exert over the operatives, is one of the most essential parts of the moral ma- 
chinery of the mills. 

Still another source of trust which a Corporation has, for the good character 
of its operatives, is the moral control which they have over one another. Of 
course this control would be nothing among a generally corrupt and degraded 
class. But among virtuous and high-minded young women, who feel that they 
have the keeping of their characters, and that any stain upon their associates 
brings reproacli upon themselves, the power of opinion becomes an ever-pre- 
sent, and overactive restraint. A girl, suspected of immoralities, or serious im- 
proprieties of cmduct, at once loses caste. Her fellow-boarders will at once 
leave the house, if the keeper does not dismi.ss the ofl'ender. In self-protection, 
therefore, the matron is obliged to put the offender away. Nor will her for- 
mer companions walk with, or work with her; till at length, finding herself 
everywhere talked about, and pointed at, and shunned, she is obliged to relieve 
her fellow-operatives of a presence which they feel brings disgrace. From this 
power of opinion, there is no appeal; and as long as it is exerted in favor of 
propriety of behavior and purity of life, it is one of the most active and effec- 
tual safeguards of character. 



57 

Note.— The water power and site of Lowell was purchased by the I<oclis and Canals Compa- 
ny, the parent of all tAc other c<irporations. This company has furnished power, site, luiildingi 
and machinery to the manufi«-turingcompiin ins; it has huilt churches, school houses and lycc- 
uras; has mad'- streets, and done whatever was needful for the health, the morals, or the intel- 
lectual improvement of tUe citizens. 



Here is the best pattern of a manufacturing city the world has cvrr 
seen. Elsewhere there have been reverses — in Lev, ell no corporation 
has ever become embarrassed, or failed to meet its obligations, or been ob- 
liged to suspend its works; elsewhere, and where the same system has not 
obtained, operatives have too often become poor and degraded and a bur- 
then on the surrounding country; there the neighboring farmers, while 
they obtain high prices for what tliey grow, are not taxed to maintain a 
numerous police and crowded poor-houses; elsewhere the moral and in- 
tellectual condition of the operative is of slight concernment to die em- 
ployer — but the Lowell corporation has. with such an enlightened self 
interest, provided so liberally for the improvement of those they em- 
ploy — in the building and needful support of churches — schools and ly- 
ceums, that many have been attracted there "less through any necessity 
of their circumstaixces, than from a desire to avail themselves of the ad- 
vantages which are there enjoyed." 

If, having the cheapest power, the cheapest food, and the cheapest 
materials, we can manufacture the cheapest good.s — and if the Ohio is 
to be the seat of large manufacturing cities, how important it is to our- 
selves and to the whole country to start fair and to adopt that system 
which promises to the capitalist the largest profiis and the best protec- 
tion of property, and secures to the operative the highest wages and 
those religious, mental and .social advantages that are far more important 
to him and to society than high wages. 



SUMMARY 

Of the advantages of mannfacturin<T Cotton ickere the seams of the Illiiiuis L'oul 
field arc cut by the lower Ohio. 

We have the following data as elements of the calculation. 

A mill of 10,000 spindles will consume 666 tons of cotton, make 
600 tons of cloth, and use 24,000 bushels of coal, 2,530 gallons of oil, 
and 46,000 pounds starch per annum; it will require of operatives 25 
men and boys and 200 females, whose wages will average the Lowell 
prices — say, males 80 cents per diem and females $2 per week, beside* 
board, or males $6,000, females $20,800 per annum. The average 
prices of board at Lowell are per week for males $1 75 and for females 
$1 25 — or total per annum $17,375. 

[t is safe to assume that the prices of board on the lower Ohio would 
be one third less than at Lowell where a sirloin of beef costs from 15 to 
17 cents the pound, potatoes from 60 cents to $1 per bushel, and most 
of the other articles of food in the same proportion. It will be remem- 



58 

bered that the rents of the boarding houses at Lowell are regulated by a 
"sliding scale," and are dependent on the general prices of food — some- 
times these have, as is said, been entirely abated, and the boarding house 
keepers have received gratuities from the corporations, so as to make a 
living without changing the prices of board, — and it is fair, therefore, to 
include the cost of board as a part of the wages paid by the corpora- 
tions. 

We have before, on page 38, average saving in cost of 

transportation and interest on difference of capital 'f 47,182 80 

Add diff'erence of 1-3 in cost of board on c^ 17,375 5,791 06 

Add difference of 19 cents per bushel on 24,00 bushels 

of coal 4,560 00 

Total saving per annum $54,533 86 

Deduct $1 50 per ton, supposing the goods are to be sold 
at Louisville, St. Louis, or Memphis 900 00 

$53,638 86 
If, to save all cavil, we deduct 3 per cent, to cover inter- 
est, insurance, and commission on sales at these cities 
on 4,000.000 yards at 8 cents— or $320,000 9,000 00 



$44,633 86 



We have a clear saving of over 17 per cent, on $300,000, Avhich is 
an ample capital. 

I am informed by those who have the means of knowing the fact, that 
the average dividends declared on cotton mills controlled in Boston, 
have been 14 per cent, for the last five years — but I am not advised of 

If lard oil is used we have the advantage of 15 cents per gall — but if the 
use of sperm oil is continued we pay an advanced price of 15 cents, per gall., 
or $379 50. We .should, however, save about 1 cent per lb. in the price of 
starch, or $469. and in flour, wood, gas (or lard oil for lamps) probably $600. 
per annum. 

On page 17 of this appendix it w,i« s tated that a mill of 10,000 spindles 
would manufacture 750 tons of cotton sheetings and shirtings. Ko. 14, yearly, 
or 840 tons of cotton. The operatives would be about 43 men and 229 wo- 
men and children. The fuel required in and about the mill per annum, say 
.50,000 bushels. 

We have an advantage over Lowell in the cost of transporting 

this 840 tons of cotton of at least $20 per ton, or $16,800 

And in laying down the goods in Louisville or St. Louis of 

over $30. per ton, or 22,500 

And in coal of over 15 cents per bush, or 7,200 

And in starch, oil, and wood, of over 1,000 

Or a total of $47,500 

Exclusive of dift'erence in the cost of board. 

The amount of work and labor here stated is about the average of that at 
the cotton mills of Lancaster, Graniteville, and at other positions where new 
and improved machinery is used. 



59 

llic amount of earnings in these mills that has been added to surplus 
funds, or invested in new machinery, improvements, property or new 
stock:* 

If the maximum of advantages is taken and added to 20 per cent- 
average of earnings of eastern mills, (and it is believed that this calcu- 
lation would be nearer the truth) the estimated profits here would be so 
enormous that western men could scarcely be brought to believe the ac- 
curacy of the calculations without the severest tests of experience. 

Several months since, and before these articles were written, I sent 
llie results to a friend and practical manufacturer of cotton on the Ohio. 
His answer was this: 

"An Irish laborer once wa-ote home to his friends that he got meat for 
his meals three times a week. 

"'Why, you lying dog,' said his employer, "do you not get meat 
three times a day and every day'/" 

" 'Yes,' said the laborer, 'but I w^ant my friends to come and join me. 
Meat three times a week will bring them here, but if I promise it three 
times a day they wont believe a word of it.' " 

Another practical manufacturer in the West writes to me that the cal- 
culations are substantially correct, and the results Avithin the truth, but 
that a model mill, on the Lowell system, is required to convince the 
western capitalists of these truths. 

Possibly these gentlemen may be right in their opinions; but such is 
not my estimate of the intelligence and enterprise of western and south- 
ern men: but if they should prove all disciples of St. Thomas, and re- 
quire for conviction, the evidence of each of the five senses it will not 
be long before northern and eastern men will occupy the field and show 
them, the model and the way it works. Many persons Avho have read 
these papers with some attention have said "all these calculations and 
inferences may be true — we cannot gainsay either^ — but if they are true, 
why have we not seen them before? Why have our people been blind 
so long to these great advantages," &c. 

This objection is natural enough to those whose attention has never 
been specially directed to this subject. 

This is the answer. We have only had the most important of these 
advantages for two or three years. Within that time it has been found 
that our steam power was cheaper than the eastern water power — with- 
in that time the labor in the mill has been diminished one-half — within 
that time we have accumulated a large part of the capital we have now 
to spare for manufacturing purposes — and within that time many circum- 
stances have occurred to bring our valley to the notice of those whose 
skill and labor and capital w^e need. Besides, how few there are here 
or abroad who know anything of the extent or cost, or accessibility of 



*Mr. A. A. Lawrence, in the December No. 1849, of Hunt's Merchant's 
Magazine, states the average dividends of 26 first class mills in jNIassaclmsetts 
and New Hampshire for the preceding 11 years at S and O-lOths per cent, 
per annum. No statement of the actual earnings of these mills has been 
made. 



60 

Uie coal on the Lower Ohio — and although its field is 70,000 square 
miles in extent, it has not yet found a place in the school geographies. 

It could not have been expected that the New England manufacturer, 
or Pennsylvania coal owner would advertise our advantages if he knew 
them — neither can we complain that our Pittsburg friends have desired 
the continuance of our profitable custom. They who have built cotton 
mills at Cincinnati and elsewhere along our river have had their individ- 
ual interests only to subserve and cared not to encourage competition. 

It will be observed that in this summary of advantages, only the im- 
portant items of savings have been carried out. Except some trifling 
materials which go into the fabric of cotton — such as dye-sluffs, acids, 
and some other "chemicals," we have the advantage in every particular 
— or should have as soon as the work was fairly started — from the dig- 
ging of the foundation of the mill to the lading of the steamboat with 
the goods; and, indeed, far beyond this, for we shall be able, within 
sight of the mill, to build ships from the keelson to the maintruck, and 
fit them out 25 per cent, cheaper than they can be built on the seaboard 
from Passamaquoddy Bay to the river Neuces, and send them laden 
with our manufactured goods to every port where our flag can float. 

The axiom that the cheapest food, the cheapest power and ihe cheap- 
est materials will produce the cheapest goods is one which even the tyro 
in political economy can fully comprehend. 



CANNELTON, AND ITS ADVANTAGEOUS POSITION. 

To show the central position of Cannclton in reference to the natural 
and artificial channels of inter-cominunication; to the certain and cheap 
supply of food, cotton, wool, hemp, timber, iron, lead, copper, &c., I 
have prepared the following outline map: 

According to the able Report (No. 441, H. R.) made in 1844, by 
(len. Armistead and Col. Long, there are, on the Mississippi river and 
its tributaries, 17,169 miles of steamboat and 747 miles of canal navi- 
gation, and the hydrographical or commercial centre is at a point near 
the mouth of the Ohio. The strong points they make for the establish- 
ment of an armory on the Lower Ohio apply with equal force to the 
establishment of cotton, iiernp, woollen, and iron mills. These are: 

The superiority of steam over water power; the facility of procuring 
articles of subsistence and all other necessaries; the facility of distribu- 
tion; the prospective healthfulness of the site; the obtaining of mineral 
and agricultural supplies by descending navigation; the cenainly of ob- 
taining supplies of iron, lead, &c., from Tennessee, Missouri, and Illin- 
ois, and by rivers v;l:ose navigation to the points of supply is rarely ob- 
structed; and the fact "that the point at which supplies of all kinds fur- 
nished by the Western country can be had in the greatest abundance 
and variety, and at the cheapest rates, is nearly or quite coincident with 
that designated as the commercial centre; with respect to this point, it 
should moreover be observed, that in the event of a dearth in one por- 
tion of the vast region above it, and plenty in another, (which is likely 




^:^Jr APPALACHIANS: ILLINOIS 

and fhe jiosilMmoftluMiiosI imporlaiit 
,,n.,u^,or. cities;rivers,rail roads& canais 

III llif i<itley fit' the Mississippi 
a II 1 1 (he j'rhidi'c fiiiHitinii 
III' 

rANXEI.TON 



R.ul lU,n,l ,nn,/,lfled ^ 
CanttfA' coni/flr/rr/ ^m 



61 

to be the case more or less frequently) supplies of provisions, &c., can 
be had with more certainty, and at a cheaper rate, at an entrepot in ius 
vicinity than at any other point." 

This is a view worthy of special consideration. Droughts, rains, and 
floods, cannot be expected at the same time to affect the alluvions of the 
Mississippi, Wabash, Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland rivers, whose 
descending products nearly approach the commercial center. 

The railroads made since 1844 will bring this commercial centre of 
the Mississippi valley near Cannelton. ♦ 

The following article, from the American Railroad Journal, of May 
4, 1850, traces the route of a railroad which Nature herself has indicat- 
ed by unmistakable signs: 

Railroads and Maniifactiiring in the JVest. — In our paper of tho 20th ult. we 
endeavored to urge upon the people, engaged in the construction of railroads, 
the great importance of manufacturing the materials of their construction. We 
again recur to this subject for the purpose of showing the peculiar adaptedness 
of our country for raanulacturing pursuits, particularly the West; and the in- 
fluence of our vast coal fields — the great repository of power — in giving direc- 
tion to our industry and in developing our resources. 

Up to ld47, the Indiana railroad system was wholly based on agricultural sur- 
plus products and foreign travel. For instance, the Madison road was the result 
of an obvious necessity of cheapening the transportation of the heavy, bulky 
and perishable staples of central Indiana to the Ohio river; ihe line from Terra 
Haute eastwardly was organized to be a portion of the line extending from the 
seaboard to the Mississippi, and at first but little imporiance was attached to its 
home business. The Madison road has proved highly profitable to its stock- 
holders, and beneficial to the section of country through which it passes. The 
appreciation of lands within five miles on either side of it has, as is said, been 
far greatir-r than the entire cost of the road. This was the obvious consequence 
of increased and cheaper facilities of removing the surplus products of the 
land to a market. The new routes from Lawrenceburg, Jeff"ersonville. IVew 
Albany and Evansville, that are now being pushed forward with vigor, (chiefly 
by the aid of landholders along the respective lines) to the interior counties, 
are the results of the benefits and success of the Madison road. 

Notwithstandmg all that was said of the vast amount of travel that would 
pass over a ro;id from St. Louis to the seaboard and on tho same parallel, the 
Terre Haute line moved along at a snail's pace, and the Vincennes route was 
abandoned. It was evident that through passengers and light freights would 
not pay dividends, and that lines of inter-communication, to be highly profita- 
ble, must connect districts of exchangeable commodities. 

Since 1847, however, new elements of railroad progress have been develop- 
ed in this State, and muist, to a great extent, direct and control the movement in 
question. 

The margin of the Great Illinois Coal Basin, as will be seen by referring to 
the geological map of Dr. Owen, is cut by the Ohio river a little east of the 
mouth of Anderson river, and by the Wabash about 1.5 miles north of the 
mouth of Coal creek. Its line is slightly curvihniar and passes through the 
western sections of the counties of Lawrence and Monroe, and extending 

northwest, approaches within 50 or 60 miles of the head of Lake Michigan. 

It will be observed that this line passes through the rich alluvions of the Pato- 
ka, north and south forks of White. Elk, Raccoon, Wabash and Vermillion riv- 
ers, that are not surpassed infertility by any lands in the world, and which, per- 
haps, have a food producing capacity equal to the wants of all the manufactu- 
rers of Europe and America. Along this margin are coals, potter's marie, fire 
and building sandstones, limestone, ironstone, and bog iron ore. all inclose 
proximity, and above the plane of high water, all of the best qualities and in- 
exhaustible quantities. Such an important fine of power and material- cannot, 
as we apprehend, be found elsewhers on the globe. None can come near it. 



62 

except, possibly, the western margin of the Appalachian coai field in Tennes- 
see, Georgia and Alabama. Perhaps that district has coal and iron fully equal, 
but it has not the same food producing capacity. 

It will be further remarked that this fine runs, for some 300 miles, nearly 
north and south; that it passes parallels of ditJerent staples and of exchangea- 
ble products; that, a I its southern terminus on the Green river in Kentucky, it 
is within an hundred miles of the cotton district; that it passes the great natural 
highways of the central sections of this valley. a)id over the tobacco, tlie hemp, 
flax, corn, and wheat districts; that at the northern point, south of Chicago, it 
almost touches the great chain of our northern lakes; that it comes within an 
attractive distance of the rich copper ores of Lake Superior, and that it run.^ 
into the lead district; it lies wholly in the temperate zone, and cuts the com- 
mercial and hydrographical centre of the great valley of the Mississippi. 

Now, when we examine the map of Europe, and observe the concentration 
^ captal and population — the railroads and canals — over the coal fields from 
tile Severn to the Ribble: from Solvvay I'rith to the Tyne and the Tees, and 
f«"om Valenciennes to Leige; when we notice the growth of Cumberland and 
Pottsville, of Pittsburg and Wheeling, and many other towns on the margin of 
the Appalachian coal field, we cannot but see that this margin of the Illinois 
coal tield, so central and in so rich a food producing country, must inevitably 
and in a short time, become a great seat of manulacturii.g and railroad enter- 
prise. 

When the Terre Haute line was nearly abandoned, it was ascertained that 
Indianopolis and the rich district around it, could ati'ord to transport coals frons 
this margin, and the work was renewed with vigor. In a iew years it will be 
completed, and will enable Indianajjolis to ol»tain lijel and motive power at one 
half the cost of either in Providence or Philadelphia. JVlanufacturing towns 
must spring into existence where the road cuts the beds of iron and coal. The 
Madison road is now pushing forward a branch to intersect this mineral district 
beyond Bloomington; the Jeffersonville road will form a connection with that 
branch; the New Albany road will cut the coal and iron strata near Bedford; 
the Evansville road will pass through one of the inner strata of the great basin. 
The Wabash and Erie canal, at several points between Evansville and Point 
Commerce, passes through solid walls of coal, iron and fire clay; the Mount 
Carmel and Vincennes routes will soon connect the lower Wabash with these 
rich deposits. Wherever these lines do intersect the margin of this coal field, 
there will be manufacturing towns; and by and bye these towns will be con- 
nected with each other by a continuous road from Cannelton, near the nmuth 
of Anderson river, on the Ohio, to Chicago. This, extended into Kentucky, 
eventually will — nay must — be the most important railroad line in the State, if 
not in the world. It will be over 300 miles in length; it will connect the lake--^ 
with the Ohio, and, joining the main lines of road between the Mississippi and 
the Allegheny mountains, it will connect the cotton, tobacco, hemp, subsistence 
and mineral districts. 

It will, by and by, be fully understood that, other things being equal, the 
true lines of artificial communication, especially when Ihey are of any consid- 
erable length, are north and south, and' to connect districts of exchangeable 
commoditiei?, and people of different climates. The valley of the Mississippi 
is so level and expanded that natural forces and affinities can and will be exert- 
ed with their full power. That valley, as Mr. Webster has recently and forci- 
bly said, is soon to be America. It will soon have a population and wealth far 
beyond the seaboard States. It is idle, then, for the seaboard cities to expect 
that their roads, running west and on the same parallels, are to be the main 
lines of commerce and travel in that valley. No artificial liighway is likely to 
compete with the Father of Waters; for, even with every facility for making 
railroads, it is not probable that the western people can ever reduce freights on 
their roads to less than one cent ^er ton per mile. The rates of steamboat 
freights now average less than four mills per ton jier mile, and as business in- 
creases; as coal is substituted for wood as fuel, and as greater .system prevails, 
these rates must be largely reduced. The main trunk, or stem in that valley 
with which all others will connect, must be from the lakes to the Gulf, and over 



63 

the best route between the Appalachian chain of mountains and the lowlands 
of the Mississippi and its large eastern tributaries. This route, as we appre- 
hend, will be on or near the margin of this Illinois coal field and by Uie Appala- 
chian coal fields near Chattanooga. I'erhaps there will be no need of more 
than this stexn through Tennessee and Kentucky. South of the line of the 
former, the road will connect with New Orleans, Mobile, Charleston and Sa- 
vannah — nordi of the lino of the latter it will connect with Upper JMississippl. 
Lake Michigan and Lake Lrie. The artificial systeu) of interconnnunicatioii 
will there be a pt^rtect whole. The territory thus connected, has a capacity 
of providing food and clothing and materials for shelter to hundreds of niilhons 
of people, and then to supply the rest of the world with fabrics of cotton, wool, 
and iron. The internal commerce of that territory will far exceed tJie foreign 
commerce of the world. 

Perhaps, for the first time in his history, man will then have full "verge and 
scope" to develope all his strength. Society there will be the conuningled ofi- 
spring of man — tlie most vigorous shoots from Saxon and Norman and Frank 
and Gothic stems have been planted in that fertile soil. From the shore of the 
(lulf of Mexico to that of Lake Superior will be acclimated almost every tree, 
shrub, plant and root that are desired by necessity, convenience, and luxury, 
while the riches of almost every mine will be within easy reach. The mind of 
man has powers too limited to define the progress and foretell the destiny ol 
that valley and that people. 

The natural centre of this great road is at or near Cannelton, or 
where the coal margin and the road are cut by the Ohio river. The ele- 
ments to be combined in manufactured articles along the line of thi.-? 
road, will exert attractive forces in about the following order: 
Food — 

Vegetables, or the largest bulk of subsistence. 

Fruits, that will not bear transportation. 

Animals, to furnish fresh meat, such as poultry, veal, lamb, &:c. 

Cereals. 
Minerals — 

Iron ore. 

Pit coals. 

Copper ore. 

Lead, &c. 
Fibrous staples — 

Wool. 

Hemp and flax. 

Cotton. 
The climate and soil most favorable to the production of vegetables, 
fruits and hemp, are between the parallels of 35 and 40 deg. In the 
same district the grasses are most abundant and pasturage of longer du- 
ration. Animal Ibod is therefore cheaper here than in more northern or 
southern latitudes. 

1 he cereals flourish best north of 40 deg., and the cotton plant is 
most luxuriant between 31 and 35 deg. 

In the charitable establishments in England, the amount of food al- 
lowed to each person (generally children and old persons who take but 
little exercise) varies from 500 to 750 lbs. per annum. The average 
consumption of food by our manufacturing operatives will probably 
exceed 1000 lbs. per annum, of which the largest portion will be bread, 
fruits, vegetables and milk: the food of the horses, cows, and other ani- 



64 

mals which must necessarily be near these operatives, would, in bulk 
and weight, be much larger. The cotton mill of 10,000 spindles re- 
quires and will support a population of at least 2000. 

Here, then, we can approximate the relative importance of the mate- 
rials that are combined in 840 tons of cotton cloth, No. 14. 
Food of man and beast at least 2000 X 2000 = 4,000,000 

lbs. or 2,000 Ions, 

Coal, 50,000 bushels, or say 1,600 " 

Cotton, say 900 " 

Without taking into view the uses of the coal for domestic and other 
purposes about the mill, it is seen here that it is economy to move the 
cotton to the coal, and, if they cannot be found together, to move the 
cotton and the coal to the food. This illustration is the one most favor, 
able for the manufacturers at the extreme north and south of the line 
laid down. To make finer cloth we need relatively more labor, more 
food and more power. To make bar iron the difference is still greater; 
while to make steel and the nicest fabrics of cotton, wool, iron, &c., 
the amount and cost of the raw material sinks into insignificance when 
compared with the amount and cost of the food and of the fuel for heat 
and power. 

To recur again to this outline map it will be seen that the line of the 
mineral district from, say Covington, Ind., to Rumsey, Ky., is in the 
very heart of the best food producing district on earth, and that this food 
and coal, clays, building stone, iron, &c., must attract the cotton. It 
will be noticed that Cannelton is at a central position where this line is 
crossed by the Ohio River and where food and materials can be dis- 
charged from steamboats freighted at the bases of the Alleghany and 
Rocky Mountains, on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, and at the 
north as far as the Falls of St. Anthony. There must eventually be 
a great mai t of exchange as well as the chief seat of manufactures of 
this valley. It has vastly more natural advantages for manufacturing 
than Manchester, Birmingham or Sheflield, in addition to great com- 
mercial advantages The money and labor that have been expend- 
ed in improving the navigation of the Mersey, in building the Liv- 
erpool Docks; in embankments and excavations to connect that port 
with the coal mines of Lancaster, and in sinking shafts to and cut- 
ting "adit levels" from these mines, would build a city on that section of 
the Ohio larger than all the cities of Lancaster. The very labor em- 
ployed in transporting stone from Scotland and the English channel to 
Liverpool would here build mills enough to work up half our cotton 
crop; and the greater taxes paid by these English cities within the present 
century would more than fill these mills with the most improved 
machinery. 

I shall not attempt to fix the period of time when the great city of the 
West will be at the point here designated. As every country progresses 
in civilization, the tendency of population and wealth is to concentrate 
in manufacturing cities. Macauley has graphically described the rapid 
changes that occurred in England after the invention of the spin- 
ning jenny, power loom and steam engine, when "a. constant stream 



65 

of emigrants began to flow to the regions north of the Trent that pos- 
sessed, in their coal beds, a source of wealtli far more precious than the 
gold mines of Peru." 

In the last quarter of a century the changes have been equally great 
in New England. Had the power of Lowell, Nashua, Pawtucket, and 
Hadley been found on the Lower Connecticut, Hartford or Middleton 
would now be the great city of New England, and Boston might have 
retrograded. Had the eastern margin of the Appalachian coal field 
touched the navigable shores of the Delaware or Chesapeake Bay, at 
that point would now be the chief manufacturing and a great commer- 
cial city of our seaboard. No one can, for a moment, doubt the cor- 
rectness of these positions. That country compared with ours is barren 
and stationary. The sites on the seaboard have but one back country. 
The Lower Ohio has a navigation more safe and subject to fewer inter- 
ruptions than the Connecticut or Delaware, and cities on its banks 
would be at the centers of great supporting circles. The like causes 
must produce like effects. The greater here must be as important a« 
the lesser there. 

Some of these views are more fully expressed in the following extract 
from a recent editorial of the Cincinnati Price Current. 

Western Manufactures. — The ruling prices of cotton, for a series of yearw 
preceding the present, were exceedingly low. even when conipiircd with other 
leading staples of the country. As a consequence, the cotton planters, and 
those who depended on the uiaiket for hemp, stock, food, &c., in the planta- 
tion States, have hecome conscious of the necessity of diversifying their pur- 
suits and encouraging hom& manufactures. Cotton mills have been springing 
up at various positions in the south and west; and now. at favorable positions, 
such as Graniteville, S. C, Augusta, Ga., and Cannelton, Ind., systematic 
efforts are being made to lay the foundations of manufacturing cities. Indeed, 
we are now taking precisely the same stcjjs that England, Belgium, and j\ew 
England have already taken — the same causes that have built Manchester, 
Birmingham, Ebberfield, Lowell, &c., are now operating in this valley, and 
with immense power, and if our cities, when sun'ounded by a sparse popula- 
tion, and only required for the purposes of factorage, grew up with unex- 
ampled rapidity, what may we not expect when our clothes, hardware, «S:c., are 
made at home. One of our merchants can sell the product of the constant 
labor of a thousand manufactui'ers. We shall not lose the merchant, but wc 
shall attract the thousand manufacturers Our expanding markets, peaceful 
and secure government, light taxes, abundant food, cheaj) materials, and genial 
climate, wonderful facilities of intercommunication, are all combining to mal<e 
the central section of this valley the chief seat of manufactories in the world. 
We now control the cotton commerce, and our exports of cotton will aver- 
age, in value, over forty millions of dollars yearly. When we export (as we 
soon shall) cotton yarns and cloth, instead of raw cotton, the value of these 
exports will average yearly over 200 millions dollars. 

It is, however, argued that the cheap labor and capital of olden countries will 
enable them to retain their monopoly of the cotton manufacture. 

The same arguments were used when England began to receive the weavers 
of Flanders, when Slater was erecting his cotton frames in Rhode Island, and 
when lighter taxes and cheaper food in Belgium, Saxony, and Switzerland were 
attracting cotton machinery from England. We seem to forget tliat natural 
forces %vill always prove more potent than artificial forces; that men and mo- 
ney are more easily moved than iron, cotton, and food, and that the former 
need be moved but once, while the cost of moving the latter is perpetual. 

Thus, better markets, cheaper food, and greater security to person and pro- 
perty induced to Flemish weavers to emigrate to England. The abundant 

6* 



66 

iron and coal of Great Britain were natural advantages that enabled her ir> 
defy all manufacturing opposition for more than a century, even while engaged 
in wars over the world, and while increasing her national debt to a sum almost 
beyond computation. But, when her population passed the practical limit of 
a home supply of food, and was pressed down with taxes, Belgium, Saxony, 
and Prussia opened their mines of coal and iron, and as soon as they could co- 
py British machinery, successfully entered the field of competition; and had it 
not been for recent revolutions, and the insecurity of property on the conti- 
nent, Havre, Amsterdam, and the Haus towns would now divide with Eng- 
land the imports of our great staple. 

The growth of the cotton manufacture in New England was the result of a 
superabundant population; of lighter taxes; of convenient and abundant water 
power, which, in the infancy of steam power, had a decided advantage, and of 
greater proximity to the material and our home market. Compared with our 
own, these advantages do not now exist in New England. The j'ower of 
steam is now. where coal can be had at 10 cents the bushel, cheaper than that 
of water. The steam engiiie now does far more work, and with a much less 
expenditure of fuel, than it did ten or twenty years ago There is now a large 
deficiency of food in New England, and her sterile land has now reached such 
prices that labor must be driven from it, if it can find as eligible and cheaper 
positions of employment elsewhere. 

We have every element that enters cotton cloth, and at average prices far 
cheaper than elsewhere. Our iron ores for machinery, and coals for power, 
are equal in quality and greater in quantity than those of England or of Bel- 
gium, and at one-fifth thoir cost in labor. Cotton is within two days' journey 
— subsistence is found in the utmost profusion around us. Our great natural 
and ever open highways afford us the cheapest possible facilities of intercom- 
munication. Our climate is most favorable to life and to labor. Our taxes are 
lighter, by far, than those of any other people. We have, and our position 
will always secure to us, the greatest possible security to persons and property. 
We have now a population superabundant for the supply of our agricultural 
wants; and now, when we are fully prepared to develope our mineral and man- 
ufacturing resources, and to enlai^ge those branches of industry that have been 
regarded as the chief sources of wealth, and the evidences of high civilization, 
the newly discovered mines of gold on the shores of the Pacific, are not only 
providing us with the means of manufacturing action, but are opening nearer 
channels of communication between ourselves and people of other countries, 
cli:uates and products, and with whom we should naturally make exchanges. 

Other reasons why we may expect a rapid growth are given in a re- 
cent petition to the executive and legislature of Indiana, for an appro- 
priation for a geological survey of that State. 

During the last ten years, the business of manufacturing has been very wide- 
ly extended, and improvements in machinery in the use and economy of pow- 
er, have somewhat changed the position of the elements which gave England 
and Belgium and New England their superiority. The changes in the channels 
of commerce which have already occurred and are now clearly foreseen, are also 
resulting in the change of position of the manufacturers who chiefly support 
and employ that commerce. The vast multiplication of scieaitific books and 
journals has resulted in advising manufacturers not oidy of the best machinery 
used in their particular departments, but of the relative advantages of different 
sites for operating that machinery. 

The statistics of jnodncing the material, of working up the material, and of 
moving the material and its product from the producer to the consumer, are now- 
gathered from every source, combined with care and then rapidly spread through 
the workshops of the world. 

The art of working in metals and in fibrous materials, was once a mystery, and 
they who possessed it cared but little for the cost of transportation, or the bur- 
then of taxation, for they had a monopoly, and measured the value of their 
work by the ability and necessities of their customers. But now there are few 



67 

sucli mysteries. The inventor of a labor-saving machine is neither imprisonet? 
nor bought. In the proportion of its etficieucy is the extent of liis travel and 
the number of his advertisements. 

As a consequent of these changes, the manufacturers of the world and they 
who would put capital and labor in manufactures, are now eagerly looking 
abroad to ascertain where the natural advantages are the greatest ior carrying on 
their respective operations; everything is taken into view; e/ery thing has its rel- 
ative weight, value, and importance stamped upon it. The sum total of the va 
rioiis items fixes the locality. 

There is another element now in operation, in continental Europe, aud not 
the least potent in the manufacturing districts, which is swelling the tide of emi- 
gration to this country. In France, Germany, Prussia, Saxony, Silesia, and 
Switzerland, where there are many thousands of people and many millions of 
capital employed in supplying the markets of America; political revolutions 
have rendered investments in macinery unsafe, and have increased the burthens 
on the energies and success of the manufacturers. These people are now look- 
ing for more quiet homes, cheaper lands, and lighter taxes. 

To these classes of manufacturers, the holders of our food, our minerals, and 
our fibrous staples should show points of refuge, safety, and profit. We, who 
desire to bring the consumers of what we have to sell to come near to us, have 
every interest in showing these consumers the goodness and the value of what 
we have to sell. We have land, coal, iion, and lead ores, the earths employed 
in the arts and mannfactures — the cotton, hemp, and wool, each and all far cheap- 
er and of a quality equally good with what they obtain where they now are — but 
they do not know these facts, and they cannot be expected to cretlit the state- 
ments of individuals who have their own purposes to subserve. The State must 
furnish the official vouchers and endorsements. 

The effect which the establishment of extensive manufactures in one part of 
the State would have upon the agricultural interests of the other sections of the 
State are obvious The counties of the State, now wholly agricultural, would 
soon diversify their pursuits. The eastern outcropping of the coal field extends 
one hundred and fifty miles from the Ohio, to the northwestern boundery of the 
■b'tate. Railroads will soon cross this margin at various points, and connect the 
mineral with the agricultural districts. These roads will place the coal on the 
eastern limits of the State at prices lower than the average rates of an equivalent 
coal in the manufacturing districts of Europe. The iron ore may pass through 
the furnace, and perhaps through the rolling mill, near its native bed, but it will 
then be taken where subsistence is the cheapest, aud the last processes of its man- 
ufacture will require far more hands and capital than the first. 

Within the last year this subject has engaged the serious attention of 
the Eastern Press, and the following extract from the New York Dry 
Goods Reporter, expresses the general opinion of that Press: 

Wc are pleased to see such an interest awakened at the South and West, 
in regard to manufactures. From an inspection of the valley of the Missis- 
sippi last year, we became convinced that the day was not far distant when 
neither the Southern nor Western States would be deiiendent upon the East 
for "the products of the loom. It is clear to our mind, that this portion of 
the United States is destined to be the battle ground on which the control of 
the non-producing markets of the world is to be decided. The inexhausti- 
ble beds of bittuuinous coal which run parallel with and contiguous to the 
great Father of Waters, will supply the cheapest motive power in the world. 
while they will have for a market, not only all the States that lie contio-uous, 
but they are nearer to the markets of all Mexico. If the Atlantic and Pacil- 
ic Railraad is ever made, it will debouche somewhere near New Orleans, and 
this region will, in this matter, again have the advantage of the rest of the 
world.— Z>. G. R.,Jan. 20, 1849. 

Many quotations, like the above, might be given. Indeed, the saga- 
cious statesmen and manufacturers of the East seem to appreciate our 
advemtages far more highly than we do. 



68 

The foreign demand for the coal of the Lower Ohio is forcibly set 
forth in the follov/ing letter of Mr. Maury, whose position and means 
of information entitle his opinions to great weight. 

Extriict from a recent letter from Lieut. Maury to R. Triplctt, of Bon-Harhor, Ky. 

"Go ask tlie railroads, canals, and the whole network of internal improve 
nients that are stretching themselves out from the four quarters to reach the 
Ohio, and tlirough it the great stream of the West: from North, South, East, 
and West, they will point you there, and with an eloquence, though mute, yet 
far more signincant than words can ever do, they will tell of the inducements 
that the mining and manufacturing facilities there presented, hold out to the in- 
vestment of capital. 

"Ask the capitalists and statesmen of Pennsylvania and Maryland; of Vir- 
ginia; the two Carolinas, Florida, and Alabamba; of Mississippi, Louisiana, 
Missouri, and tiie tier of Ohio States, why are they investing more than their 
one hundred million of dollars in works of internal improvement to and fro, 
and through the valley of that river? and they will tell you it is because of its 
immense resources in all the elements of wealth — its fertile soil— its thriving 
population — its water power — its coal measures — its hills of iron, and fine cli- 
mate — all combined, have drawn either a railroad or canal almost from every 
State in the Union, towards that region, so attractive is it. 

"The natural highway of down stream navigation from you to the Gulf, and 
thence with the Gulf stream to the long range of Atlantic States, was not, m 
the eyes of business men, sufficient; other market ways and commercial chan- 
nels to and from your favored region of country were wanted, and we have 
actually seen sovereign States contending and striving with each other in 
epening these ways. 

"The new channels for business and commerce already under way or com- 
pleted to the Ohio river, from the Lakes, the Atlantic and the Gulf, are monu- 
ments of the commercial power and greatness which slumber with you. * * 

"New Mexico, Deseret, and all the embryo States between you and the 
Rockv Mountains, will be as dependent on your workshops for the next gen- 
eration, as you for the last have been upon those of New and old England. 

"The railroad to California, taking the Southern route, will open to you the 
markets of interior Arkansas and Northern Texas. Running along the fron- 
tiers of Mexico for huiidreds of miles, it will give you a monopoly in trade 
with the three or four millions of Mexicans who will have nothing to give you 
in exchange for your merchandise but silver and gold, and the produce of 
their mines — the very articles that you most desire. 

"Within the last year the workshops of New England have thrown into 
Mexico from the right bank of the Rio Grande, about four millions of merchan- 
dise, whereas, before the navigation of that river was opened, New England 
scarce sent as many thousands there. 

"The California railroad will open to you a richer and better country by far^ 
than that along the banks of the Rio Grande. 

"Before the conquest of Califoi'iiia, the inland trade with Santa Fe amount- 
ed to some three or four millions annually, despite drawbacks and the Mexican 
tariff. What will that amount to now, with increased population, increased 
facilities of communication and free trade? 

"That of itself is a prize for which the Western States may well afford ta 
enter the manufacturing list, that they may contend for it. * » # 

"Then as for your coal mines, a new market of boundless extent is also just 
about to be opened for that article. The coal measures of the West may mo- 
nopolize that market. 

"The Pacific ocean from California to Chili is the smoothest sea in the 
world. It is admirably adapted for steam navigation, as is the Mississippi river 
itself; and yet, all the way along that coast, from the Columbia river to Cape 
Horn, there is not a single coal measure from which the steamers there can be 
supplied. 

"The Pacific steamers have to h&ve their coal ^nt to them all the way round 



69 

Cape Horn, at the cost for freight alone of some $20 or $2'^ tlie Ion. Our 
mail steamers in the Pacific have been payinfr as high as $40 the ton for coal. 

"The Panama railway will put an end to this, and hring that market to your 
very doors. 

"The fleet of staamers already in the Pacific and preparing to go lliere, will 
require about 1(K),()00 tons af coal this year. By the time tin; Panama railway 
is completed, and you get your coal mines fairly develojied, the demand for 
coal there will be largely increased, reaching in a few years a million of tons 
annually. Panama is midway the coast and therefore in the very position for 
the coal deposile of that ocean. None ol" the mines that are washed by it can 
interfere with you, because from Borneo, Formosa, China, and Japan, which 
abound in coal, America is up stream or to windward. 

"Having the coal on the banks of the river yon will be enabled to deliver it 
in any quantities at Chagres cheaper than it can be brought from the moun- 
tains of Pennsylvania, and sent down by sea to the same place. To get that 
coal of Pensylvania to market, it has to pay tolls both to railroads and canals, 
which together with the expense of the inland freight nearly or quite equals 
the cost of mining. 

"You have the broad Mississippi and beautiful Ohio without toll gates or 
weigh-locks at your free use, for everything you choose to place upon their 
bosoms for market. 

"With these facilities you will be enabled to deliver in Chagres coal for the 
Pacific steamers at $4 or $.j per ton, perhaps less. For a dollar or two more 
the railroad will deliver it the other side on the shores of the Pacific, and thus 
tlie steamers there, instead of paying $30 or $40 for coal, will get it at $6 or 
$7, and that will tend greatly to increase the number of steamers there, and to 
swell the demands for the produce of your labor. 

"You observe, therefore, how propitious are the timts : these improvements 
to the Pacific are budding forth just about the time that your mines are ready 
to open, and when you are showing the first blossoms of your manufacturing 
powers, facilities and capacities. What a rich promise of early fruit do ther 
not hold out to you. 

"Commence now and drive ahead — for these markets will expand as fiist ;i» 
it will be possible for you to enlarge your capacity to supply them. Not over- 
bold is the prophecy that in ten years from this lime there will be annually deliv- 
ered across the Isthmu'^ for consumption in the Pacific, not less than one mil- 
lion of tons of coal from the West. This is only one item of tlie many among 
you, which are not known in your foreign commerce. 



REPORTS OF GEOLOGISTS AND ENGINEERS IN REFERENCE TO THE MIK- 
ERALS, EARTHS AND POSITION OF CANNELTON. 

Louisville, Nov. 20, 1847. 
To Prof. SiLLiMA.v, New Haven, Ct.: 

An accidental meeting with you, some years ago, among the lead mines cS 
Missouri, hardly entitles me to claim a personal acquaintance witii you, but Vo 
you whose life has been spent in the pursuit of usel'iil knowledge, I am sure 1 
need offer no apology for the request I am about to make, for I am persuaded it 
will give you pleasure to spread as widely as possible, a knowledge of those vast 
and valuable resources with which a bountiful Providence has blessed our coun- 
try. Nor can 1 expect to communicate anything which may be entirely un- 
known to you; but to a numerous class of the readers of your Journal, the in- 
formation I send may be, if not entirely new, of sufficient interest to engage 
their at'ention 

I have just returned from an excursion to a part of the gieat coal field which 
lies between the Falls of the Ohio and the JMississippi river. Tliat part of this 
magnificent coal basin to which my attention has just now been jiarticularly di- 
rected, possesses, I think, unusual interest, not only to the geologist, but to the 
practical miner, and I now propose to present your readers a description of il, 
not only as a contribution to science, but in the hope that it may attract the a'.- 



70 



tention of some who are seeking new objects in wliich profitably to invest tlieir 
capital. Generous as nature has been in giving us a genial climate and produc- 
tive soil, with navigable rivers that traverse every portion of this immense val- 
ley, I doubt whether in our own, or in any other land, there can be found any- 
thing surpassing in richness and extent its mineral resources. My object now 
is, however, to invite attention to a single item in this great arcana of wealth, 
not doubting that, at some distant day, when the mineral capacities of this coun- 
try shall be fully revealed, our present knowledge will be but as a grain of sand 
upon the sea shore, in comparison to that which time and science apd the em- 
ployment of labor and capital will unfold. 

The whole coal field, of which the point I refer to forms a part, occupies a por- 
tion of five States, e.xtendnig from near Bowling Green, Kentucky, to the mouth 
of Rock river, Illinois, and from St. Louis, Missouri, to near Bloomington, 
Iowa, being about five hundred miles in length and about two hundred wide, 
containing al)out seventy thousand square miles, and embracing an area greater 
than the whole State of Illinois. It is not very likely, however, that any consid- 
erable part of this vast body of coal will be of^any practical value to the present 
generation, but there it will lie, where a wise Providence has placed it, lor the 
use of those who come after ns; a fund of future wealth which no man at this 
day can venture to estimate. To the practical miner of the present time, the 
important enriuiry is, where, in this extended field, is the greatest combination of 
favorable circumstances for the employment of labor and capital in niinmg coal? 

The discoveries in science and '^ the improvement in machinery made during 
the last ten or twelve years, by which steam is used for ocean as well as lake and 
river navigation, and by which, on the score of economy as well as convenience, 
t is superceding water as a moving power in our mamifactories, renders this 
question of the supply of coal, one of increasing and great import. Without 
coal, the stately ocean steamer which now heeds "nor winds nor waves," would 
lie powerless and lifeless upon the sea, and equally indispensable is it, as the 
agent which gives motion to the machinery of our great cotton and rolling 
mills, to say nothing of its increased use for fuel and light in our large towns 
and cities. 

Feeling that this subject is every day acquiring more importance, I have spent 
much time in the study of this great coal field, and I shall confine the rest of my 
remarks lo that portion of it, which, in my opinion, offers superior advantages 
in respect not only to the quality of the roal, but to the ease with which it can 
be obtained, and the flicility and cheapness with which it can be furnished for 
the purposes to which I have referred. 

The point to which I allude is Ciinnellon and its vicinity, situated on the north 
bank of die Ohio river, in Perry county, Indiana. The undoubted health, as 
well as the beauty of this location — the abundance and excellent quality of the_ 
coal — its commanding positionon the lower Ohioi where navigation is neither in 
nterrupted by ice and low water, renders it a point of uncommon interest. The 
business of mining coal is becoming important, and whether viewed as a depot 
for the supply of fuel for navigation or domestic purposes, or as a future manu- 
facturing city, of which, I trust, there will be more than one within the circle of 
this great coal basin, it is looked upon by men of forecast as a place of much fu- 
ture consequence. 

In order to give a definite idea of the exact position of the coal and of the 
method of mining it, I give the following drawing, embracing a distance of five 
miles along the Ohio river. 




Bed of the Ohio River. 



It will be seen by the above drawing that the strata all dip or incline to the 
west, the amount of which, at this place, is about fifty feet to the mile; conse- 



71 

qiiuntiy, the main bed of coal, vvliicli is represented on tlie right, as two hundred 
t'oet above the river level, is nearly down to its bed on the left. The following in 
a. description of the strata represented in the section: 

No. 1. Is a bed of green argillaceous shale, or, perhaps, it might as well be 
termed slaty clay, containing occasional thin layers of argillaceons iron ore. It 
is destitute of fossils. Its thickness at this place is about eighty feet, as seen high- 
er up the river. When acted on by air and moisture, it becomes very soft, and 
thereby looses its power of sustaining the super-incumbent rocks. It?is thia 
which causes the exceeding steepness of the hill in the upper part of this sec- 
tion and for several miles above. 

No. 2. Is limestone about twenty feet thick, and filled with small organic re- 
mains, the most interesting of which I noticed were terebratulur. 

No. 3. Is a true conglomerate of mill-stone grit, consisting almost entirely of 
'|iiartz gravel and coarse sand, without any visible cement. It is an excellent 
material for furnace hearths and fire-stones; and likewise for mill-stones, where 
the grains adhere sulHciently together. Doubtless it would be found to be depos 
itory of salt water where the dip has carried it sufficiently below the fresh water 
level, as it is evident that all the valuable brine found in the western States, is de 
rived from rocks of this sort. It has a double stratification, as represented in the 
drawing, showing conclusively, that there were strong currents in the ocean where 
It was deposited The same kind of stratification is seen in great abundance 
along the JVlississippi river at low water and sometimes on the Ohio. The sand- 
bars which occasion so nuich trouble to boatiuen, are generally produced in this 
way, being a kind of terrace formed by the water upon which the sand is rolled 
by the current, till it comes to the edge where it rolls down by its owt. weight 
into deeper water and stops. In this way the bars are continually extending 
themselves downwards, unless arrested or cut off by some counter-currents. Its 
tiiickness is about thirty -si.x feet. 

No. 3. Is a fine grained sand-stone of remarkable uniformity of texture, and 
in the size of its particles This shows that it was dejiosited in a quiet ocean, 
whose waters flowed gently but steadily onward. It has a single stratification 
which causes it to split readily into square bloocks. 

When first quarried it is very soft and easily worked, but it soon hardens on ex- 
])osure to the weather, which renders it an excellent and valuable building mate- 
rial. It is extensively quarried and boated down the river for the government 
works at AJeniphis. The thickness of this bed is about thirty feet. There is 
generally a thin bed of shale between this and the conglomerate, but it never ex- 
ceeds a very few feet, and is sometimes altogether wanting.* 

No. 5. Lies immediately upon No. 4, without the intervention of any shale, 
and is almost destitute of stratification, especially in its central position. It con- 
sists of a confused mixture of sand.shaly matter andiron ore. It abounds in or- 
gajiic remains, chiefly calamites, which shews its proxin^ity to coal. It is about 
fiftv feet thick. 

No. 6. Is argillaceous shale, including one of the most valuable beds of coal 
found anywhere in our country. The whole varies in thickness from about 
twenty to thirty feet. The upper and lower portions are generally light colored 
but grow darker towards the centre, until it becomes perfectly black in the middle. 
On the darkest portions of the shale lies the bed of coal, the thickness of which 
varies from thret to four feet, but sometimes it increases to nearly five feet. But 
it is not its thickness which particularly recommends it to notice, it is its excellent 
quality, the freedom of the mines from water and its nearness to the river. It is 
estimated that a cubic foot of coal in the mine is equivalent to one bushel in 
weight. There are 43,560 square feet in an acre; consequently there will be as 
many times that number of bushels as there are feet m thickness in the bed. It 
leaves no cinder in the grate, and leaves only 2.11 per cent, of 'vhite ashes. U 
resembles in appearance, and burns like the cannel coal and it has been so call- 

*Dr. D. Dale Oiven is of opinion that this is tliG same stone as that from an analogous forma- 
tioa ill .Scotland, and used in the construction of Melrose Alibey, "wliich is TOO years old, and 
whose cornices are still as sharp and as perfect as if they had been carved only a few years 
asjo." s. 



72 

ed, but It is considfied by tlie best judges as belonging to ibe bituminous variety. 

No. 7. Is sand-stone, about eighty feet tliick. The lower hall" of it has a dou- 
ble stratification in tlie highest degiee, showing that the state of the water which 
deposited it was exceedingly agitated. It also possesses uuiuerous contorted 
veins ol" iron ore, which being much more durable than the adjacent sand-stone 
cause it to present a very jagged appearance where it is exposed to the weather. 
This circumstance is very cliaractenstic, and Airnishes an easy guide to the posi- 
tion of the coal in the hills. The upper part is regularly stratified, but will not 
bear exposure to the weather. I have not observed any organic remains in any 
part of it. 

Above this sand-stone lies another bed of eoal, but too thin in this vicinity to 
admit of being worked, though it obtains a workable thickness jn other places. 

No. 10. Is a bed of very impure limestone, but it is probably not continuous, 
as I have not detected it elsewhere. 

No. 11, Is sandstone, and tops out the hill in the lower part of the section, but 
it possesses nothing of any particular interest. It is seen only on the tops of 
the highest points. 

Cannclton is about one hundred and twenty miles below Louisville, by water, 
and abouf. half that distance on a straight line. The section above described, is 
at the commencement of the great coal field, and the bed represented is the first, 
or, geologically speaking, the lowest in the series, which consists of four worka- 
ble beds in alb None of them, however, possess the advantages tliat are found 
at Cannelton, either in respect to the quality of the coal, the ease and conse- 
quently the cheapness with which it can be worked, or in jiroximity to the river. 
Respectfully yours, 

B. LAWRENCE, Geolomst. 



QUANTITY, QUALITY, AND CHARACTEEISTICS OF THE CANNELTON COAL, 

The section of the coal seam, at Cannelton, cut by the Ohio, and 
above low water mark, is somewhat over four miles in width, and ex- 
tends northwardly at about the same width and elevation, and along the 
outer edge of the basin; as it increases in thickness where it is cut by 
the Eel, White, and W abash rivers, it is believed that it will prove from 
six to ten feet thick within a few miles of the Ohio; where now worked, 
each acre yields about 120,000 bushels; a section of four by ten miles 
would yield over three billions of bushels — a supply for a city of 
100,000 manufactures of cotton, wool, and iron, for six or seven hun- 
dred years; and besides, when the price of the coal in the hills advances 
two cents a bushel, the section under the water level will be worked so 
as to give a front of eight or ten miles. There can be no doubt, then, 
as to a permanent supply. 

As to the quality and characteristics of the coal reference is made to 
the following reports: 

Louiscille Gas Works. Octoher28, 184!. 
"Carbonized 2700 lbs. of Hawesville (the Cannelton coal opposite is more 
free of slate and sulphur) which produced 9940 cubic feet of gas, i)i bushels ci 
coke weighing 1413 lb-., and about 30 gallons of tar. The gas produced was re- 
markably" Aei; from sulphur. 

"J. JEFFRl«S, Superintendent." 



73 

ABRIDGEMENT of the Rrpcrt cf Jorty H. Blake, Epq., Svperivtendevt of the 
Boston Gas Works, of erf er't merits and analysis, made by htm en the Indiana 
Cannelton Coav, from the mine of J AjflKS Coyd, Perry county, Indiana. 

" Jtitnes Boyd, E«q.: With this 1 send an arcotmt of the results nhtainrd from 
my examination of the sample of rual bionj^'lit by yon from the mine at Cantiel- 
ton, Indiana, by which yon will perceive that Ihe m'tddle ■portion of the vein* is as 
valuable as any description of coal which is broii!,'ht lo this market. It is partic- 
ularly to be recommended for the manufacture of illuminatii;g gas, and for burii- 
jiig ill parlor grates." 

"In the quantity of gas which it can ben-mic to yield, and in the proportion of 
bicarbonated hydrogen afibrded, it will be found to he fully equal to tin- bestcoil 
v.'hich is brought hfre from Newcastle, Fiiglar.d; ul.ile ihe *///«// proportion t f 
sulphate of iron, with which it is ccntamiiiatcd, lerccis it in this itspccl much 
more valuable." 

" It differs, in structure, from Tnglish canneJ coal, which, in chemical ccmpo- 
silion, it closely resemliles." 

"So far as my experiments enaWo me to jnt'go, it will nfTord as lirre a quanti- 
ty of illuminating gas, as the Canncl coal of Lancashire, and in the parlor grate, 
kindles nearly as readily, and produces an equally agreeable fire, 'i'he small 
■quantity of ashes which it leaves in the grate, renders it Ibr the latter use, partic- 
ularly valuable."' 

"The specific gravity of two portions selected from tho middle part of the 
vein — ihe one selected as being the lightest — and the other the most dense part, 
was found to be 1.230 and 1,244. the mean of which, 1,237, is probably tie aver- 
age weight, c-iiinpared with pure water of the mass. A solid cubic yard, there- 
fore, wou.d weigh 2,087 lbs." 

"100 grains of this coal, after being thoronghly dried, afibrded 

Charcoal 61 f 3 

Volatile combustible matter 35.V^6 

Silicia, alumina, sulphate of iron and oxide of iron 2.11 

100.03 

"Of the earthy matter above mentioned, 0.329 parts consists of iron pyrites, 
■which would be equal to less than six and n half pounds in a ton of coal. 

"A quantity of this coal, sidijected to destructive disillation, at a briiht heat, in 
^a close iron retort, afforded four and a quarter mhic fw.t of illiuninatiiig gas for 
each pound of (oal, which is equivalent to 11,475 cubic fiet per chaldron, as- 
suming the weight of the chaldron to be 2,700 lbs. The .specific gravity of the 
.gas was .523." 

"The coke produced in this exprriment was fonnd to be lighter, to kindle 
snore readily, and to burn more freely than that obtained from n.osi of the varie- 
tis8 of coal."j 

"By comparing the results obtained in tho above mentioned analysis, with there 



'Note. The zniddJe is the only portion of tho Vein that is mineil ns morclinntihle. Thnoth- 
cr purts, the e.xtremi! loji and botlom are never t)roiiglit nut ■■(' tho min<'. V-i Mr. IVuke, hav- 
ing the c.itiro st.ut.i submitted ti> hun, (a tohiinn of >oni3 15J0 lbs ) twnlyzed al, tho parts and 
finds that portion (the toil and hottoni) VThich has hitherto boaa rejected, to bo very goodcoul, 
better tiiau the Virginia Midlothiuu. 



74 



obtained from coal from other localities, as shown in the annexed table, the com 
parative value of the Indiana Cannelton coal will be readily seen." 



— 11 m 



In 100 parts of dry coal. 



o 


< 


W 


3- 


o 


E 


PS 






X 






a- 


O 


a" 


< 




S 2 


3 

(3 
















a c- 




r* = 




m 


















o- 






a 





Indiana Cannellon coal 

English Lancashire Cannel coal 
Knglish Derbyshire Cannel coal 

English Newcastle coal 

Scotch Cannel coal 

Virginia Midlothian. 



61.93 
62.22 
48.36 
64 28 
39.43 
60.03 



3.5.961 

3.5.28 
47.01] 
32.521 
56.57 
30.94 



2.1111.237 

2.501 
4.631 
3.20 1 
4. ' 
8.951.293 



Nova Scotia Pictou - 154.20i30.8015. 



Signed, 



JOHN H. BLAKE. 



Boston, October 8, 1843. 



Under an Act of Congress of 1841, Prof. Walter R. Johnson was 
employed by ihe Secretary of the Navy to institute a series of experi- 
ments to te.5t the relative values of different coals; these were made at 
the Washington navy yard with great care and at great expense — every 
known test was applied to forty-four kinds, including the best of Nova 
Scotia, Scotland and England — the results were published in a large 
volume in 18434— U. S. Senate doc. 386. 

Under a mistaken impression of the precise purposes for which the 
coal was desired by the government, an entire section of the Cannelton 
seam (including the top and bottonn shale and an intermediate band of 
several inches thick, containing a mixture of slate, sulphur, dirt and 
iron pyrites, and called " dunt" by the miners, and which are thrown 
aside in the mine) was forwarded to the Department, — notwithstanding 
these impurities, the coal is placed in the tables — 

No. 1. In the order of rapidity of combustion. 

" 10. In the order of completeness of combustion. 

" 2. In the order of freedom from waste in burning. 

" 10. In the order of tendency to form clinker. 

" 17. In the order of maximum rapidity of evaporation. 

Pittsburg coal (of which selected samples were sent by Messrs. Hepp 
& Co. of New (3rleans,) ranks lower in each of these particulars ex- 
cept the fourth, and, as every engineer who has used both knows, the 
Cannelton is decidedly superior in this respect to any other known in 
this country, except the pure cannel found on the Kenhawa and Sandy 
rivers. 

Compared with the best Liverpool coal, the tables show that the Can- 
nelton coal is heavier, has less earthy matter, less tendency to form 
clinker and has near eight per cent, more of fixed carbon. 



75 

The relative value of the three kinds is perhaps more fairly given in 
the "table of cubic feet of water evaporated per hour during steady ac- 
tion," the quantity of each being the same. 

Liverpool 13.4,-> 

Pittsburg 10-''>6 

Cannelton 15-00 

The only coals that exceeded Cannelton in this table were: 

Coke of Neff 's Cumberland coal 16.50 

Atkinson & Templeman's and Pictou on the eastern 

slope 16.47 

In his preface, Prof. Johnson remarks: 

••The question of the value ofcoals for the purpose of generating steam is, <il 
course, mainly dependent on their heating power; that is, on the weight of coal. 
burned under a given evaporative vessel, can convert into steam, while under- 
going combustion." 

In the tests applied to ascertain its efficiency for making chains it 
ranks low in the tables; at the mine the smith selects particular layers 
in the seam, which are easily distinguished and separated, as in England 
at Sheffield; these are found to be as well adapted for the purposes of 
the forge as any other bituminous coal. 

It is to be remarked that this coal is just now coming largely into use, 
and that its working peculiarities are not yet understood; our grates, 
stoves and furnaces are all constructed for the burning of Pittsburg coal, 
and most of the engineers on our western boats have yet to learn that 
each requires a different management — the one burns with more rapidi- 
ty and evolves more heat, and, of course, a less quantity is required in 
the same time. Experience, however, will soon give all the practical 
information on the subject that we require. 

Sixteen years ago, scarcely a bushel of coal was used on steamboats, 
and engineers were very positive in their belief that it never could be 
used to advantage in steamboat furnaces; now from ten to twelve bush- 
els of bituminous coal is found to make as much steam as a cord of tlie 
best wood, — on the Ohio the one costs from 50 cents to $1 60 and the 
other about $2 25; the cost of the latter is constantly increasing, and 
every improvement in the construction of boilers and furnaces is likely 
to increase the difference in the effectiveness of the two kinds of fuel. 

The following extracts are from pages 538 and 598 of Prof. John- 
son's Report. 

"In an office grate, a lump" (of Cannelton coal) "15 inches in diameter was 
laid on a mass of ignited coke. It immediately took fire and in three minutes 
was giving oft' a brilliant flame. From its flaky textnrs, it speedily disinte- 
grated into flat masses, burning with little intumescence and scarcely any ten- 
dency to agglutination. This property allows a free passage to the air, favors 
rapid combustion, and causes the exhibition of an exceedingly brilliant light. 
When the white flame had subsided, it was followed by one of a bright blue or 
purplish tint, (cyanogen?) which having subsided, left a light, porous, glowing 
coke, falling readily into small fragments, which preserve, to some extent, the 
original lamellated appearance of the coal. On the grate, under the steam boi- 
ler, it was observed to ignite readily: and it took only half an hour to hrinff tht 



76 

baUer into steady action from the time the wood was withdrawn and the charg- 
ing with coal had commenced. No serious inconvenience was felt from the 
p issage of fragments tlirougli the grate. Its prompt and kapid action seems 

TO ADAPT IT, I.V A KEMARK.\BI,ii MANNER, TO THE PURPOSES OF WESTERN STEAM- 
BOATS. 

'•Experiments appears to demonstrate that for the purposes of rapid evapo- 
ration, and for the [ rodiiction of illumiuatiug gas, ihe coal of Indiana, (Can- 
nelton) tliough neither very heavy nor very durable, is inferior to none of tho 
highly biiumiiioiis class to which it belongs; since in heating poiccr, and in free- 
dom from impurity, it surpasses tite splint and cannel coal of Scotland." 

Extracts from Dr. Jackson's Analysis of the Coal. 

" Boston, July 30th, 1836. 
'■ To the Agent of the American Cannel Coal Company: 

"Dear Sir: I have made a chemical analysis of the Indiana coal which you 
Bent me, the re-sulr oi' v/hich you have below: 

"The coal is of a brilliani shining blnck color, and breaks with a conchoidal 
fracture. It.s .structure is straiified, and between the layers of coal are found 
carbonized remains of vegetable fibres. It gives a black streak when rubbed 
on wedgc'.vood ware, and its powder is black. The coal does not soil the fin- 
gers when rubbed upon it, and is remarkably clean and free from dust. No 
traces of jiyriles were discoverable in the coal. 

Composition of the coal in 100 grains, 

Carbon 48.4 

Bitumen 48.8 

Oxide of iron, alumni and silicia =2.8 Ashes. 

100.0 

"From the above analysis it appears, that your coal is of a highly bitumin- 
ous nature, resembling more nearly the canuel coal of England than any other 
variety. 

"li is highly valuable for domestic use and is admirably adapted to produce 
coal ga', which it will yield in great abundance; the bitumen being of a nature 
resembling petroleum mixed w.th a little aspbalium. 

"It is evident that the coal, when burned in the grate, will give a large yel- 
low flame, and will leave a small quantity of red ashes, consisting of peroxide 
of iron and a little clay 

'Owing to the abundance of bimraen in this coal, it is admirably suited for 
locomotive .steam engines, and for steamboats, where a rapid and powerful 
flame is required. 

'1 have no doubt the Indiana cannel coal, such as you sent me, will com- 
mand as high a price in the market as the best cannel coal of England. 

"C. T. JACKSON, M. D., Chemist." 



Boston, April 4th, 1850. 
Wm Richardsov, Fsq. 

Respected Sir: — I have made a geological investigation of the coal lands 
bi^lou'iing to the American Cannel Coal Company, of Caunelton, Indiana, 
and found them iyin? upon the southeastern edge of the Indiana and 
Illinois coal field embracing the saliferoiis rock-:, beds of pure cannel coal, 
iron ore. and a great variety of beds of sandstone; the whole group compos- 
ing the lower series of the western coal formation. 

Here are four distinct bed-; of coal, one of which has been mined, succpss- 
fuUv, for some years and is mined at present to a great extent by James Boyd, 
Esq.. and known by the name cf "Boyd and Mason vein." It is 3 feet 9 inch- 
es iu thickness, and has a number of openiugs into it upon the Company's 



77 

tends IB various directions back in the hills, and in many places exceeds 4 feet 
in tliickness. 

The American Cannel Coal Company own in fee simple about 7000 acres 
of good arable laud, and well timbered ; and, of ibis amount, after deducting 
a proper per centage lor the area of ravines, I m;iy fairly state that the said 
Company have nearly 40UO acres of cannel coal land. The coal, lying in 
nearly a horizontal position, atl'o-ds the facility for making a nice calculation as 
to the probable amount of coal contained within these landa. The Ameri- 
can Cannel Coal Company, according to my calculation, have in one single 
bed upwards of 400,000,000 bushels of cannel coal, and about 150,000,000 
bushels of counnon bituminous coal in the smaller beds, making in all 550,000- 
000 bushels of coal. 

The quality of the coal of Cannelton is undoubted. During my stay at 
Cannelion 1 observed its combustion in the parlor grates, and under the steam 
mill boilers, and saw thiit it made a beautiful fire, and for cleanliness was ^u- 
jperior to any coal I had ever seen of the bituminous character, and for readi- 
ness of ignition and yet economical use, surpasses all of the coals of the bitu- 
minous character of the West. By reference to the able and impartial Report 
of Professor Walter R. Johnson upon American Coals, one may see 
that the cannel coal of Cannelton, Indiana, rates first in the list of experiments 
as regards ignition, generaiing .steam, and for domestic purposes. 

It mines out in beautiful bloc'<s of a merchantable character, and can be 
stowed to great advantage. 1 therefore recommend it to steamers sailing from, 
or touching the port of New Orleans. The steamboats upon the Ohio river 
consume nearly lialf a million of bushels per annum of this valuable article of 
fuel, and it is obtained at Cannelton of James Boyd, Esq. 

John R. Blake, llsq., of Boston, analyzed the coal of Cannelton, Indiana, 
and experimented upon its combustion, an 1 found it to surpass in quality all 
American cannel coals which had as yet been found, also to he superior to the 
Scotch and Derbyshire cannel coals, but tinds it equal to the Lancashire cannel 
coal of Great Britain. 

immediately under this main bed of coal is a good bed of fine clay, varying 
in thickness from 5 to 10 feet, s-itable for pottery and fine brick, and which is 
now beginning to lie extren-ively used. High up in the hills and back from 
the river are several smaller beds of :oal, but not developed. 

The sandstones of the hills are an exceller>t quality of building stone, corn- 
posed of a great variety of brown, grey, and reddi^ih brov.n sandstones, mostly 
free from mica, except some of the grey beds which contain it in very fine 
particles. The layers are easily quarried, and there are some mag lificen: 
quarries in tlie Cannelton hill, tliat have been opened to obtain the stone for the 
erection of tlie Cannelton Cotton ^?ill. 

The coal crops out upon the lands of the American Cannel Coal Company, 
and has a general inclination to the N. W., with a series of swells in the line 
of direction of its plane (strike), keeping up the coal for some distance down 
the rive--, extending through lands of Stephen M. Allen, Esq., of Boston, and 
into lands belonging to Judge Huntington. The Ohio River passing through 
the coal formation a few degrees north of northwest. Such physical features 
present the idea at once, lo every practical collier, that these mines are upon 
the best bank of the river as regards the facility for mining coal, quarrying 
Btone, and the obtaining of timber from the hills. 

Timber: — Oak, walnut, maple, cherry, beech, poplar, locust, ash, hickory, 
sycamore, pawpaw, and grape vines iii wild abundance. 

The soil of the country i- of an exc llent quality and finely divided, charac- 
teristic of the soil of the West, and extends up to the top of the hills. In many 
places there is a more highly mixed soil, composed of the older soil and the 
disintegrated particles of a lower member of the new red sandstone, creating 
spots of land in the back hills more suitable for wheat and oats than the gener- 
al soil of tho county. The deposites of iron ore add a per centum of iron to 
the soil, enriching it for many purposes of agriculture. In fact almost any 
Boil may be found here to suit the farmer. There are also spots particularly 
adapted for the culture of the grape, and the climate is peculiarly so. 

7* 



78 

I was particularly struck with the fine sites for cotton and woolen factories, 
iron rolling mills, glass factories, machine shops, potteries, &c., by the side of 
navigation in the central West. 

That such mineral resources, productive soil, salubrious climate, variety of 
timber, all in proximity to the cotton growing district of the South, should re- 
main untouched so long, and that now, within a year, there has been a substan- 
tial stone cotton factory of 10,000 spindles, erected at Cannelton and almost in 
operation, proves conclusively that the mind of man is at work, seeking for 
cheapness of power, cheapness of living, extensive market, and salubriousnesa 
of climate. Cannelton must ere long prove to be an oasis in the great desert 
of manufacturing enterprize of the West. 

Respectfully submitted, 

THO. S. RIDGWAY, Jr., Geologist. 



Extracts of a letter from Prof F. Hall, L. L. D. 

In 1843, Dr. F. Hall, an eminent geologist and mineralogist, and 
then Professor in Columbia College, visited Cannelton, and in a letter 
to F. Markoe, Sec. of Nat. Institute, published in Nat. Intelligencer 
July 22, 1843, gives the following statements and opinions. 

"The material immediately above the Cannelton coal is a slightly bituminous 
shale, of a blue color, that varies from ten to eighteen feet in thickness. The 
coal in the highest part of the vein, for an inch or two, contains less bitumen 
than the other part of the coal and decrepitates when burning: it bears a slight 
resemblance to cannel coal, but is too soft and friable to be turnod in a lathe or 
to bear a fine polish. There is a thin stratum about a foot from the upper sur- 
face of the vein which, in the language of the miners, is called "dunt" and 
which is coal embracing allum-earth and sulphuret of iron, and which crumbles 
to pieces when exposed to the action of the air and moisture.* Two or three 
inches of the vein at the bottom are bituminous shale, which, however, 
burns nearly as well as the coal above it and lasts much longer. The coal 
forming the remainder of the mass is of the finest quality. It comes out in 
medium blocks, often a foot or eighteen inches in diameter, and almost every 
block betrays its vegetable origin. 

There is one peculiarity connected with this coal field which to me is very 
striking, viz: the horizontality of the coal vein, and I note it as a singular fact 
that the vein has no connection with limestone either above or below. The quan- 
tity of this combustible which an old world has here treasured up for the use of 
man is immensely large. 

It is not uncommon, sir, as you are well aware, either ni England or in the 
United States, to find in the immediate neighborhood of large coal deposites 
an ample quantity of another, and in itself the most precious of all the mate- 
rial substances, viz: iron ore or iron stone. My examinations have led me to 
the conclusion that the iron existing here is no less abundant than the coal. The 
ore occurs in detached irregular masses, among sandstone rocks, over almost 
the entire surface of the hills, showing in many places what 1 regard as violent 
igneous action. It occurs also in veins or beds varying from two to five feet 
in thickness. There have already three of these been opened — one above and 
two below the coal vein and running, it is supposed, parallel with it. 

The ore is of different kinds, but principally the argilaceous oxide exhibiting 
a great diversity of mitative forms. I cannot determine with accuracy its rich- 
ness, because I have not with me the means of analyzing it. Being acquainted 



* As the coal recedes from the river this Etratum of "dunt" diminishes in thickness aud iiu- 
U»ces of it are seen in a vein opened about a mile from the river. 



ber of the large establishments in Europe and New England, I can, I think, 
form a tolerable correct estimate of the metal which a specimen contains from 
its external characters. There is very little even of the surface ore which will 
not yield from 25 to 35 per cent of iron. Most of that which conies from a 
vein or bed opened to any considerable depth will, I am persuaded, afford from 
45 to GO per cent. The iron ores of South Wales yield, on the average, says 
Mr. Forster. 26 per cent, and those of Northumberland 30. 

Why, it may be asked, is this ore, so rich and abundant, suffered to lie here 
undisturbed? Why do tiie people of the West, for the purpose of creating 
rail roads and carrying on other internal improvements, consent to pay to trans- 
atlantic strangers so enormous a tax for the very article which lies idle under 
their own soil? The day is not distant when the iron ore of this region will be ac- 
counted no less valuable than its coal fields. 

The sandstone in this quarter is of different qualities — some of it is an excel- 
lent building stone — some, which is white and of a fine grain, is employed for 
mantle-pieces, &c. Some of it is novaculate or white slate, and is used exten- 
sively for whetstones. There is a spring a few miles from this place which 
yields petrolium, but I do not know to what amount. I have visited a spring 
about a mile from the village which is strongly impregnated with sulphuretted 
hydrogen." 

No explorations or experiments have been made on a scale suffi- 
ciently extensive to test the quantity or quality of the iron ore to which 
Dr. Hall refers. Dr. Owen refers, in his geological report, to the "Iron 
Hill" back of Troy and Cannelton, as aftbrding some prospect of good 
ore by digging. The best iron ore of the valley, however, seems to lie 
in a lower strata of the coal series. On the Cumberland River the rich 
iron ore approaches within 10 or 15 miles of the margin of the coal field. 
Back of Elizabethtown, in Illinois, the distance is still less, while at 
Bloomfield the coal and iron are almost contiguous. Near Terre Haute 
the be.st of iron ore is found entirely within the coal basin. Without 
more extended and accurate surveys and analyses, it is impossible to 
determine, with any accuracy, the limits of our available iron deposites. 
Of this, however we are certain, that there is no reason why our coal 
should not arrest the pig iron of Missouri, Tennessee and Western Ken. 
tucky on its transit toward the coal of the upper Ohio. 



Cannelton, May 16, 1850. 
Hamilton Smith, Esq.: 

Dear Sir — You have propounded to me the following 
questions in relation to my coal raining operations at this place: 

Ist. "What is the average number of bushels produced by a good miner in 
ten hours — that is, dug and placed in the coal car?" 

2d. "What the expense for 1000 bushels per day of bringing the coal 500 
yards to the mouth of the mine?" 

3d. "What accidents have occurred in and about your mines since you com- 
menced operations, say seven years?" 

4th. "What is the general health of your miners? What is your opinion of 
the healthfulness of the employment?" Is the labor of the miner more irksome 
than that of the agriculturist?" 

To these please permit me to give a general answer. You alreadyknow the 
price I pay the miners is two cents per bushel for digging and piling up into 
the cars. To the second question I cannot give a precise answer, but from the 
following you can probably collect all you want. For the inside hauling in 



80 

with the quality of the iron ores which are advantageously worked at a num- 
tlie mine, I keep seven small mules, working generally five at a time, keeping 
two spare ones. These with five boys to drive, will bring to the mouth of the 
mine sixteen hundred bus^hck per day — for such a days work, the wages of the 
boys average 75 cents each. To keep drains and roads in good order, and 
perform other work inside apart from the mere digging, requires four or five 
men at an average wages of $1,25 i)er day. Foreman's wages $2,00 per day. 
Wear and tear of cars, inside railroad, &c. $1,50 per day. 

The miners and their families are as healthy a class of people as any other 
amongst us. Both men and boys are attached to their business. Even the 
mules seem fond of it, and thrive well at it. For seven years, the whole time 
of my experience, there has been no accident in or about my mines, by which 
either man or boy has been killed or maimed, or in any way seriously injured. 

The habit of my miners is to go to work very early in the morning — often 
before daylight, but always breakfasting before they go out. They dine early 
(dinner being always sent into the mine) and generally quit their days work 
about the middle of the afternoon, unless work is unusually pressing. The 
average time of the men for a days work is eleven hours, (including dinner 
time,) and for the boys and mules nine hours. 

Comparing the miner's labor with that of the farmer, I would say the former 
has the greater points of attachment, because it is seldom that I notice a miner 
becoming a farmer, but frequenily I find laborers and farmers desirous of be- 
coming miners. Very respectfully, Yours, 

JAMES BOYD. 



One of the important advantages possessed by Cnnnelton is its facili- 
ties for receiving and shipping freights by steamboats that stop (here for 
coal. The following remarks of the Editor of the Louisville Courier, 
and the letter of Piof. Johnson conclusively show that these facilities 
v/il be greatly enlarged. 



FUKL FOR STEAMBOATS. 



We publish to-day a valuable letter from Professor Walter N. Johnson, on 
the subject of coal fuel for steamboats. Professor Johnson was employed by 
Secretary Upshur, to make a series of experiments with the various cuals of 
the United States, for the purpose of ascertaining the most appropriate article 
for use in the Government vessels, the report of Professor Johnson is one of 
the ablest scientific papers we know of, and it conclusivsly establishes his repu- 
tation as a man of extensive attainments, and an experimenter of the highest 
ability. The country is deeply indebted to Secretary Upshur, not only for the 
investigation he instituted, but for the aid and encouragement he gave Profes- 
sor Johnson throughout the examination. We have Professor Johnson's re- 
port, and appreciate it as one of the best documents ever printed by Congress. 

The remarks of Professor Johnson on coal as a fuel for steamboats will ar- 
rest attention, and they should set some of our steamboat men to studying out 
results. The country is full of produce far beyond the wants at home, and in 
order to seek a market, even the present low rates of freights must be lowered. 
In order to accomplish this, a system of greater economy in working the boata 
must be introduced, and the item of fuel is the most important one to com- 
mence with. If $30 worth of coal fuel will answer in place of $100 worth of 
wood fuel, a fine opening for economy is at once made. 

Boats can be worked from Pittsimrg to St. Louis with coal. From Pitts- 
burgh to Louisville there is no difficulty — below this point, at Cnnnelton, 120 
miles from Louisville, at Bon Hatbor 150 miles below, and at Trade Water, 
290 miles, coal can be obtained in abundance, and can be placed at the mouth 
of the Ohio from these points. Then there is coal of an excellent quality 12 
or 14 miles back of the Grand Tower between the mouth of the Ohio aod St. 



81 

Louis. A depot is soon to be made at the Grand Tower, it is said, by a Boston 
company. That boats vviiich use coal, can run at a great saving is certain, 
and all that is necessary to make a supply for them is to commence the use of 
the article. The use of wood is becoming a serious expense to >teamboats, and 
some means must be devised for economising in tiiis important article ol" cou- 
Bumplion. The letter of Prolessor Johnson is to the point, and we hope it 
will receive die attention of steamboat owners and captains. 

Louisville Courier. 



Washington, June 20, 1848. 
(lamilton Smith, Esq.: 

Dear Sir — I have never entertained a doubt that sooner 
or later coalis destined to supersede wood as fuel for .steamboats. It is now 
ten years since wood was almost the only fuel used on all the finest boals, on 
the Eastern waters especially, those on the Long Island Sound, the Hudson, 
the Delaware, and the less important streams. Now scarcely any other than 
anthracite is used on those waters, and widi such advantage that die rates of 
freights and passage are essentially reduced, while the proKts of rinining are 
Buch as to induce the building of larger and larger vessels — all with a view to 
tliat species of fuel. 

As to the question of the relative value of coal, compared with dry beach, 
a-sh and cotton wood, I am not aware that any direct experiments on the latter 
kinds of woods have as yet furnished the data for compuiing that relation. 
You may have observed that, in my report on coals, I have stated that the sub- 
ject is yet unexhausted, and particularly that the coals of the West and South- 
west were but very imperfectly represented in the series of samples sent for 
trial in 1843- Mr. Bull, who made experiments on the woods some twenty- 
five years ago, also experimented on certain coals, and obtained comparative 
results between weights of coal and cords of wood. But the western coals, 
those of Illiuois, Indiana and Kentucky, were not, I think, then brought into 
notice, and I am under the impression that cotton wood was not among the 
kinds submitted to trial by him. One object I had in view in requesting the 
Government to continue the experiments on coal was to perform at die West 
a second series of trials on the coals and woods found on the Western lakes 
and rivers. From all that I do know of the Western coals, and from all that I 
have learned from others of the wood of the W.jstern couniry, I do not 
entertain a doubt as to the great economy of using coal wherever it can be 
had at a moderate price. 

It is very certain that with prices such as have hitherto ruled on the Ohio 
and its branche-^, one could hardly suppose any other fuel than coal u ould be 
used, if the trips were confined to the coal region, or to a moderate distance 
beyond it. 

The grates for using coal will in general be of less depth than those for the 
use of wood; the burs will be from .^ to | of an inch apart. But for different 
coals different diiueinions of grate will be required. I suppose one difficulty 
experienced on the Western boats will arise from the attempt to burn too 
much coal at a time on the bars, by which means the iron will become over- 
heated and fused, and if the clinker be also heated to the fusing point, the sul- 
phur will attack the iron anJ run iu'o compact masses with it preventing the 
clearing of the fire. A thin stratum of coal on a grate raised to within a few 
inches of the bottom of the boiler will be probably found the most advanta- 
geous mode both for the economy of grate bars and for that of fuel. If the 
boilers do not make steam as rapidly as with wood, the obvious expedient ia 
not to increase the depth of the stratum of coal, but to enlarge die area of 
the grate. Very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

WALTER R. JOHNSON 



82 

It has been demonstrated in the Louisville papers that, by system and 
the use of proper boats and machinery, the Cannelton coal can be deliv- 
erjd in that city at a cost of not over 64 cents per bushel, and at a re- 
munrative price of say 7^ cents per bushel, and that, neither by the upper 
Ohio and its tributaries, nor by railroad can the cities at the Falls of the 
Ohio be supplied with coal at that low rate. As soon as the demand is 
sufficiently large to justify the construction of the expensive instruments 
required, it will result in the organization of a line of freight boats be- 
tween Cannelton and Louisville, and the large increase of a mining 
population at the former place and the still further increase of its facili- 
ties of receiving and shipping freights. 



The value and superior qualities of ths Cannelton stone quarries are 
indicated 

1. By their convenience and extent, say five miles along the river 
bank, at the upper part of the property of the company, the cliffs are from 
150 to 250 feet high, and approach within 200 yards of the river bank. 
Farther down, these cliffs recede from the river and lie immediately back 
of the town. The stone to build the mill and the coal to move its ma- 
chinery can be brought on the same railroad. 

2. By the durability of the material. This is shown by the growth 
of the mosses on the face of the stone, by its sharp edges and by the 
absence of disintegrated particles at the foot of the cliffs. The geolog- 
ical position of the stone also proves its durability. 

3. By the facility with which it can be worked. It can be taken 
from its place in blocks of any convenient size: it splits in straight 
lines and is dressed by sharp and pointed tools at less than half the cost 
of dressing limestone or granite. It is thus remarkably adapted for the 
elaborate styles of architecture. In the opinion of those who have ex- 
amined the subject, all the factories, public buildings and substantial pri- 
vate edifices will be made of this material in preference to brick at a 
cost of $5 per m. This will give the place an unique and beautiful 
appearance. 

The following letters show the character of the stone under the tests 
of the hammer and chisel. 

From Mr. Eastin, formerly Chief Engineer of the Public Worhs 
in Kentucky. 

Henderson, Nov. 1, 1849, 

In 1838 I opened the Cannelton stone quarries and with the stone taken 
therefrom, bnilt the Lock No. 1, on Green river. This stone works well, is 
durable, and is not effected by any kind of weather, but on exposure becomes 
harder than it was in the quarry. 1 can safely say that it is the most substantial 
building material I have seen west of the Alleghany Mountains. 

H. G. EASTIN, 

Civil Engineer. 



From Mr. A. McGregor, the Building Engineer of the CannelUm 
Cotton Mill 

Cannelton, May 15, 1850. 

For durability and cheapness the Cannelton quarries aflord tlic best building 
stonn I iiav(! seen west of the mountains, and it will stand the test of compari- 
son with that of any quarries in New Enj^land. The best sandstone used in 
New York is from Connecticut and this is the very same as the brown stone 
used in building our mill. 

The stone used in the erection of Trinity Church, New York, is from the 
I.,ittle Falls, N. J., and before the workmen could obtain sufficient perfect 
blocks they probably rejected three-fourths of the (juarried stone, which is full 
of air bubbles, or holes, from the siz,e of a twenty-tive cent piece to that of a 
small pea; these are tilled with loose and dry sand, so that, in droving or dress- 
ing, the surface will present a ragged appearance. The stone from the other 
N. J. quarries is iar behind this in quality. I regard this as equal in durability 
to the famous Craig Leith stone, although it is not of the same hardness and 
specific gravity. The material of which Melrose Abbey is made is a very close 
sandstone of a yellow gray color. The grain is as fine as it can be from sand, 
but in point of durability, this, in my opinion is not at all inlerior. 

The cheapness with which the Cannelton stone can be worked gives it a 
very decided advantage. In short, we have, in the new mill here, furnished 
the best voucher of the character of this building material, and he who exam- 
ines it must be very blind not to see its beauty and stability. Millions of tons 
of this material must soon be taken for building purposes to the towns and 
cities on the Ohio and Mississippi below this point. My foreman, Mr. David- 
son, who is familiar with the best quarries in the United States and Great Brit- 
ain, fully coincides with roe in opinion. A. McGREGOR. 

Mr. McGregor was eighteen years on the public works of the U. S. 
government and had charge of the construction of Fort Adams. His 
workmen on this building were chiefly Scotsmen who had been employ- 
ed on the most important of the recently constructed public edifices in 
this country and in Great Britain. They all agreed in opinion that for 
convenience of access, ease of working, durability and beauty, this 
stone was not surpassed by any. 



In 1848 Gen. C. T. James, of Providence, R. I. (who received his 
early instruction from Slater, the father of American cotton manufac- 
ture, and who has been "^ngaged for the last fifteen years in putting cot- 
ton mills into operation in the most eligible positions in various portions 
of the country,) visited Cannelton and was at once forcibly struck with 
its great advantages. In a pamphlet published by him in 1849, he thus 
expresses his opinions: 

"The convenient location of the spot for transportation — its close prox- 
imity to the cotton growing regions — its vast abundance of the best fuel 
in the country, aud of every necessary material for building — its situation in 
the midst of a rich agricultural country — its command of the great valley of 
tlie Mississippi for a market — all these advantages, aud others connected with 
them, make Cannelton the finest site for the manufacturing business in the 
Union; and fully justify the prediction that, ere many years have elapsed, it 
will become an extensive manufacturing city, not outrivaled even by Lowell 



84 

herself. Such a prediction may appear extnavagant to some, but when it is 
considered ihat Lowell, with no peculiar advantages but her power, within 
about twenty-live \ears, has risen Croin a barren and uniieopled waste, to a 
rich and populous ciiy, there can be no plausible reason assigned, why Cannel- 
lon with a better motive power than Lowell has, and much more of it, and a 
thousand advantages ihat Lowell never possessed, should not advance with 
equally rapid strides. Such will be the fact — and if Cannelton does not, in 
thirty years from this time, out.-trip the present Manchester of the United 
States, it will be because the people on the Ohio and iMississippi, had rather 
advance the interests of others than their own. 

This, it strikes the writer, presents a grand field of operation for the people 
of the South, and more especially at the Southwest, at the present period, 
when it may be said that cotton manufacturing there is in its iniancy. Estab- 
lish a manufacturing city at this place, and it will serve as a beacon light to the 
people of the South, to direct their steps. It will also become a school, in 
which thousands will be taught to manage and direct the operations and busi- 
ness of the cotton mill, and from which, aid can readily be obtained at all times 
when wanted, at any other point. Such a place, by means of its almost inev- 
itable success and prosperity, would exert a very great influence on the south- 
ern country, through its own practical examjile: and would, iniiireclly. cause 
many other similar establishments to rise up in various parts. It would con- 
tinue to extend its ramifications in all directions, till the entire south had been 
awakened to the importance of the business and become a manufacturing 
country, as well as a cotton growing country. (Jn this spot at d in self-de- 
fence, should the Southern and Western agriculturists meet, and, by the com- 
bination ol their means and their energies, make Cannelton what it is fully ca- 
pable of being — the great mai.ufacturing city of the world. 

To persons^at all acquainted with the facilities afforded for the business of 
the cotton manufacture at the above named spot, and the details of the business 
itself, nothing need be added to what has already been said, to satisfy them of 
its admirable adaptation to the object in view. To others, however, a further 
explanation may be necessary. We would here remark— L A very large pro- 
portion, nearly all, of the domestic cotton goods now consumed in the Missis- 
sippi Valley, tind their way there from tiie East, either by the Lake route 
direct, or, by the way of hew Orleans. The transportation, insurance, &c. 
by either'route enhance the cost of the goods at least one-half per cent per 
yard. That additional cost per yard, on (bur millions and fixe hundred tboti- 
sand yards iJer annum, the product of a mill of ten thousand spindles, will 
amount to $vJ2,500. The cotton used at the east, must be transported from 
New Orleans or some other southern port, and provided there were no waste, 
the frei"ht and expenses would be the same as on the cloth. But, for 4.500,- 
000 yards of cloth, weighing about l,6C0,(]tifl pounds, it has been seen, a quan- 
tity of cotton i.s required, of i,6GO,0CO pounds. The freight and expenses on 
this in the ratio oi those on the cloth, would be $25,000; and which with the 
foregoin", makes the net sum of $47,500. Cannelton being situated in close 
oroyimity to the cotton growing country, it is very obvious that the expenses 
thnsiicurred to the ta.stern manufacturer, on the raw material, will be saved 
to the manufacturer of the former place As he also has a market for his 
cloth at hand, a like saving on ihat article must be made too. The gross 
amount of $47.5(!0 thus saved per annum, is about nineteen per cent on the 
entire capital of $2r;().O0C— a capital amply sufficient to cover the cost of the 
factory and its appendages. . . 

At eastern manufacturing establishments, scarcely any requisite materials are 
found for building, with the exception of stone. Hence, large expenditures 
become neces^^ary for the purchase of lumber, lime, brick, ^c. &.. at a distance, 
■ind to tran^mrt the same io the spot where wanted. But. at Cannehon, every 
necessary material is found at hand, at little or no expense, and requiring only 
to be brouo-ht into proner iorms for use for which, every facility exists. These 
local advalita^'cs must of course be of vast c.msequence, as ihey will greatly 
expedite the construction of such buildings as may be required, and save much 
of the expense usually incurred. 



85 

AgaiB — the comparative trifling cost of steam power at Cannelton, is a de- 
sideratum not to be left out of tlie account; and to illustrate tins lact more fully, 
we will give two or three estimates, made up from practical data, as follows: 
The cost of water power at Lowell, Mass. is live dollars per spindle. Hence, 
sulHcient water power at tliat place to drive ten thousand spindles, is fifty thou- 
sand dollars, )|50,000 
Cost of foundations for a mill on the bank of a river, at a spot 

selected for the purpose, 20,000 

Making up a total cost of $70,000 

The interest on this, at G per cent per annum is $4,200 

Transportation of 2,500 tons per aiaium at $1,25, 3,125 

Oost of heating the mill, per annum, 2,000 

Making the total cost of water power per annum for ten 

thousand spindles at Lowell, $9,325 

A modern built mill will require, if constructed expressly for the manufac. 
ture of coarse cloths, a power equal to two hundred horses, to drive ten thou, 
sand spindles, with the requisite machinery. Thus, the horse power at Low . 
ell would cost $4(5,62^ per annum. This we set down as within the actual 
cost of water power at Lowell. Let us now turn our attention to steam pow- 
er. In this case, as in tlie statement relative to water power, we appeal to 
known facts. 

There is in full operation at Salem, Mass. an establishment for the manufac- 
ture of cotton, known as the iNaumkeag Mill. This mill contains thirty-one 
thousand spindles, and six hundred and fifty broad looms. The quantity of 
anthracite coal consumed, per day, is six tons; and tliis quantity is found ample 
to generate steam for motive power, for the mill and machine shop, warming 
the iiiill, olKces, &c., making sizes, furnishing all the drying aparatus coimected 
with making cloth, »&c. In fact, the above is the entire amount of fuel con- 
sumed on the premises, for all purposes. The annual quantity consumed, is 
fhcrefore 1800 tons; which, at $5 per ton costs $9,000 

Engineer, firemen, repairs on engine, &c., &c., 1,500 



Making the entire cost per annum, $10,500 

The engine in the Naumkeag Mill is four hundred and fifty horses power, 
und working three hundred and fifty- Thus the actual cost is $30 per horse 
power, and less than the cost of water power at Lowell, by $16 62;^ — or, less 
than the water power at Lowell for ten thousand spindles, and the requisite 
number of looms, &c., by $3,324. To use steam however to the best advan- 
tage, the mill and engine should be large. A large engine operates with much 
greater power in proportion to its siee, than a small one, or, in the technical 
language of scientific men, performs a much greater duty with a given quan- 
tity of fuel. In all small engines, necessity compels the adoption of the high 
pressure principle. In larger engines, that of low pressure is adopted; which 
makes a saving of at least fifty per cent in the article of fuel. 

At Cannelton, the cost of steam power will be much less than it is at SaJero. 
At Cannelton, coal of the best quality can be had at four cents per bushel; 
equivalent to $1 20 per ton. To run the Naumkeag engine at that place, with 
1,800 tons of coal per annum, would cost, for fuel, $2,160; being $6,840 les.s 
than the fuel for tliat engine costs at Salem. The coal to drive a mill of 10,- 
OOO spindles, cannot exceed 1,000 tons per annum; which, at Cannelton, will 
fost $1,200. The pay of an engineer and fireman would be $1,000, and the 
cost of oil about $300 more; and makiEg, together with the cost of coal, the 
comparatively trifling sum of $2,500 per annum, as the entire cost. In our 
estimate, we oft'set the cost of the steam engine, repairs, &c., against the cost 
of flumes, race-ways, water-wheels, wheel pits, &c., required for the mill driv- 
en by water power, though the ©riginal cost of the latter is greatest, and the 
former can be perpetuated and kept in repair at tlie smallest expense. 

Cannelton is situated iii the midst of a vast fertile region, yielding in great 

8 



86 

alinndance, all the usual products of tho farm nnd the dairy, including largfl" 
supplies of corn and wheat; and vvliicii are sold in market at prices much low 
er than similar articles in the markets of New England. Fuel, a very impor- 
tant item in the list of articles for domestic uses, may be had. as already stated, 
at less than one-fourth part of its cost in eastern towns by manufacturers; or 
at about one-sixth of the 2jrice paid for the arti< le at relail. Under all the cir- 
cumstances, probably it is not assuming too much to say that labor may be had 
there for manufacturing purposes, full twenty per cent lower than in New 
England, and yet all things considered, that operatives will be better paid. As 
labor constitutes much the greatest item in the co.^t of manufacturing, many 
thousands of dollars per annum will be saved in this way. We might, if neces- 
sary, enumerate many other advantages connected with Cnnneltoji as a manu- 
facturing place, such as its easy counnunication with other i^laces, especially 
the important port of New Orleans, &c., but it is presumed enough has al- 
ready been said on the subject to show that no other spot in the American 
Union, at least no one known, and occupied for manufacturing purposes, can 
compare with this for the prosecution of a safe and lucrative business. We 
will however add two or three other advantages, by way ol inducement, to 
turn tho attention of capitalists to thi:; triily vai stable spot. They are — first, 
persons who now contract for lots for manufacturing purposes, can rent coal 
land of the company, should they prefer to do so, at one cent per bushel of 
coal raised — and it will cost but two cents per bushel to raise it. Thus, as good 
coal as our country affords ruMV be had at the very low rale of ninety cents 
per ton! Second — for all buildings erected on the premises for a time, the 
company will ifii'c requisite quaiuitics of sand, clay, stone and timber; and they 
will sell at low rates, fire clay, sand-stone, and lime-stone, all cf the best quality. 
and all found in abundance within the limits of the company's purchase. 
Third — there cannot be a reasoable doubt that this property will, now active 
operations have commenced, be doubled or trebled in value in the course of a 
few years It therefore presents an 0])portunity, and such an one as seldom 
occurs, for a very safe and profitable investment of capital. We repeat th« 
question— Should not the planters and capitalists on the Lower Ohio and Mis- 
sissippi, combine their means and iheir energies to m;iki! this infant town, a» 
a maTiufactiiring place, what its situalioji and local advantages so eminently fit 
it to become? If they decline to do so. it must be because they do not properly 
appreciate the benefits to be derived from it. 



MANUFACTUEES OF lEOK, POTTERY, GLASS AHD WOOO. 

With the exception of a thin stratum of about four inches of the 
Cannelton lower coal seam, this coal is not adapted to the forge; it has 
the heat and evaporative power, but does not "cake" and make a hol- 
low fire. In the opinion of iron masters who have made experiments 
■with it on a small scale, it is of sufficient purity and freedom from 
"clinker" to be used in a furnace without coking. U such should be 
fact, no position on the Ohio can compare with this for the manufacture 
of iron. One advantage compared with other places may be seen from 
the following statement: 

A rolling mill, ol $100,000 capital, will make about 3,000 tons of assorted 
bar iron and nails, and require about 225,000 of coal per annum — the number 
of men employed will average near 1.50. 

For Western demand of iron wo have the advantage over the East of cost 
of freights, cheap living, and cheap fuel. It is to be presumed that we cannot 
afford to buy Boston nails made of Pennsylvania iron and with Pennsylvania 



87 

riud Nova Sttotia coal; aud it is doubted whether the central West will will- 
ingly continue to pay the extra cost of Ireight of 180U miles on iron in tlic pig 
and the i)ar lo and iVnni Pittsburg' and Wheeling. 

The Cinrinnati rolling mills doubtless pay a large profit, for, although they 
pay a higher price ibr coal than its cost at rittsburg, the freight between the 
two points is saved and is more than an equivalent: but a large part of the iron 
made at Cincinnati passes the coal beds of the loiver Ohio on its way to the 
consumer; ibr this demand a rolling mill, at one of these coal beds, would save 
say 450 mile* of transportation anil on tJie average at least 4^1 cents a bushel on 
co'al. or, for tlie mill of the size above, !tO0,rir> per annum. 

Nearly all the pig iron used at Cincinnati, and no inconsiderable part of that 
used at WlR-eling and Pittsburg is from ,Mis.souri and Tennessee. 

The price of this supply of pig iron depends on the cost of that part which 
comes froui the points most remote and under the obvious rule that, where the 
home .supply of any article is deficient in quantity, the cost of the deficiency 
fixes the price of the whole. 

For the pottery business our coal and clays are peculiarly adapted — 
and have been fully tested between Cannellon and Troy at the works 
ofMe-ssrs. Casseday & Co. This busine.ss is new, and difficulties have 
been and yet must be met to obtain the proper labor and skill: yet it is 
one of vast importance and must soon be carried on to a great extent. 
It cannot be that we shall long continue to import conmion ware from 
Staffordshire at a cost of over 60 per cent for Ireight, 30 per cent duty, 
and over '-^O per cent factorages, and pay for it in Indiana pork and 
wheat, when we have clay.s and coal as good and cheaper than the 
same materials in Staffordshire. For the finer fabrics of the potter we 
have feldspar in southern Illinois, kalin in Missouri, and silex in Arkan- 
sas, and all probably within a more limited circle. 

Our coal is also reuiarkably well adapted for the glass maker, and, in 
the opinion of Mr. Ridge way, we can easily find in the lower strata of 
our sand-stone the different sands required by the glass maker. The 
Wheeling and Pittsburg glass workers obtain all their lead and much 
of their sand and find their largest markets west of us. 

For the manufacture of wagons, agrictiltural implements, furniiure 
&c., Cannelton is at a convenient point for the collection of materials 
and the shipping of the products. The banks of the upper Ohio and 
its tributaries have been nearly denuded of valuable timber, while the 
forests on the lower Ohio are comparatively unculled. The demand for 
these articles for the southern market is enormous. The best of cherry, 
black walnut, oak, gum and maple lumber can be had in any quantities 
in this district at $10 to $14 per m., while the price in the Eastern 
markets is from $30 to $60 per m. 



VALUE OF COAL LAUDS. 



We may approximate 'he value of the Cannelton coal beds by the 
answers of Mr. Geo. Ledlie, of Pittsburg, to queries made by me in 
1847. 

L What is the prije per bushel for mining coal in the vicinity of Pittsbu'' 



88 

and on the banks of the Monongahela? Ans. — 1^ to 2 cents per bushel. 

2. What rent is paid by lessee of coal lands? Ans. — ^ to ^ cent per bushelf 
and when fixtures are found, i to | cent. 

3. What is the present value of these lands, and what increase of value in 
10 years? Ans. — $400 per acre on the Monongahela between Locks 1 and 2 

150 " " " " " 2 and 3 

50 " " " " " 3 and 4 

and the appreciation since 1837 about 100 per cent. 

4. What is the average price of coal at Pittsburg, and what delivered on 
coal boats at the bank? Ans. — 4^ to 5 cents at Pittsburg, and 3| to 4 cents at 
the mouth of the mine. 

5. What is the average thickness of the coal strata on the Monongahela? 
Ans. — From Lock No 4 down 4^ feet working coal. 

The coal lands in the immediate vicinity of Pittsburg are chiefly 
owned by manufacturers in the city and a very high value is attached to 
them. 

Pittsburg owes its manufacturing importance entirely to its coal 
beds. It imports its iron, fire-clay and sand. The nearest iron ore is 
found about 60 miles above, on the Alleghany River: the fire-clay is 
obtained on the Ohio, about forty miles below, and much of the sand i? 
brought from Cape Girardeau on the Mississippi River. 



The two following papers are by Hon. E, M. Huntington, Judge U. S. 
District Court of Indiana. 

MANUFACTURING ADVANTAGES ON THE LOWEE OHIO. 

If, as is conjectured by some, the recent extensive failures in Great 
Britain have been chiefly confined to the manufacturers of cotton, and 
to those who as merchants, factors and bankers, have been connected in 
some shape with the cotton trade, it is very clear that they cannot bear 
up against American competition any longer. If the high price of pro- 
visions during the last year has affected the price of labor in their facto- 
jies — which does not appear from anything we have seen, still, their re- 
moteness from the raw material must far more thaa countervail any ad- 
vantages they can ever have over us on the score of cheap labor, or the 
perfection of their machinery. Indeed, under the late improvements in 
machinery, the cost of manufacturing in this country has been greatly 
reduced: added to this the comparative cheapness of living, and, above 
all, the price of the raw material — having, as the English manufacturers 
do, three thousand miles of ocean transportation — it is impossible that 
they can ever again compete with us in this branch of industry. Under 
all the changes of our tariff laws, our manufactories have been steadily 
increasing, until they have acquired a solidity which no legislation can 
possibly shake. 

But is the manufacture of cotton to be confined chiefly to the rugged 
hills of New England? To the minds of some of us, the day is com- 
ing when the valley of the Ohio will, so far as this great interest is con- 
I'.erned, bear the samg relation to New England, that New England no\T 



89 

does to Great Britain. It is now settled incontestibly, that steam power, 
where coal is cheap, is cheaper than the clieapest water power for pro- 
pelling machinery. This, then, is our position in the West. The great 
Illinois coal field touches and crosses the Ohio river, say 100 miles be- 
low Louisville. There, on either the Kentucky or Indiana side, for one 
hundred miles, may be found large quantities of the finest coal for steam 
purposes, which may be had at the river banks for four to five cents per 
bushel. In New England, where steam power is used — and that is the 
case in many of the most extensive and recently erected factories — the 
cost of coal is, on an average, full 20 cents per bushel; making a differ, 
ence in our favor, in this single important item, of full three hundred 
per cent. Here, on the Ohio river, we are within ear shot of the cotton 
fields of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas — on a river 
navigable at all seasons of the year — where provisions are, and always 
will be, cheaper than in any other part of the United States — in a per- 
fectly healthy position, and as far south as is compatible with this im- 
portant consideration. Add to this that we are in the centre of the great 
Mississippi Valley, where our market for the manufactured article is 
known to be the best in this country. With these manifest advantages 
over New England, why should we go there for our manufactured cot- 
tons? Or, rather, why should we not avail ourselves of our superior po- 
sition and resources, and supply the markets of the world with cotton 
fabrics? Nor must it be overlooked that, for the manufacture of iron 
and hemp we possess the same natural advantages, viz: the raw materi- 
al and the moving power. 

Allow me to make another suggestion for the consideration of the 
South. It is certain that, at no distant day, a railroad communication 
will be established between the Southern Atlantic cities and the naviga- 
ble waters of the West. This noble scheme of internal communica- 
tion will connect the whole great Valley of the Mississippi with the 
Southern Atlantic .sea. board; and when that is accomplished, it requires 
no prophet to foresee that the commanding ascendency of the Northern 
cities in the business of foreign importations and interna] commerce, 
must be greatly impaired. It is impossible to estimate the effect which 
the opening of such a direct communication will have upon all the rela- 
tions of the South and West. Is it not, then, in the present and pros- 
pective condition of the cotton trade, and of cotton manufactures, also 
clearly the policy of the South to foster the establishment of manufacto- 
ries of cotton, iron and hemp, on the tributaries of the Mississippi? 
Not by the enactment of Tariff laws for protection — for Nature has 
given all the protection necessary — but by the investment of a portion 
of her surplus capital in these enterprises, whereby she will enlarge her 
market at home for the product of her cotton fields, and, in time, link 
indissolubly together these great interests of cotton production and cot- 
ton manufacture? Connected as we are by an immense extent of navi- 
gable rivers which flow into the Gulf of Mexico, our geographical affin- 
ities are all-powerful: and if, superadded to these, our interests are com«. 
bined by the system of policy to which I have alluded, no agitation? 

8* 



90 

growing out of Southern institutions can ever disturb this powerful sym- 
pathy. The Western free States, in the angry controversies between 
the North and the South, so much to be deplored, occupy neutral 
ground; but Naiure, by those powerful arteries of commerce, our noble 
rivers, and by those immense coal fields wiiich lie along the southern 
boundaries of the free States of Indiana and Illinois, and which, with 
the cotton of the South, constitute the pabulum of the most important 
manufacturing interests of the country, must forever, with prepondera- 
ting force, throw the West and the South together. — De Bow's Com- 
mercial Review, 1848. 



In the National Intelligencer, of the 13th of December, there is an 
able article on the subject of the "immense value of cotton manufac- 
tures to Great Britain." I should be glad to see it copied entire by eve- 
ry paper in the West, for the facts there stated are well calculated to 
set men to thinking upon thi.s subject. The writer shows that, while 
the United States receives "only $35,000,000 for the growth, picking, 
bagging, carrying to market and selling, expenses of the cotton," Great 
Britain realizes "an accumulated value of $69,000,000 on its manufac- 
ture," or in the ratio of tivo for one. 

Ill Porter's Progresss of the Nation, he says: "the rise and progress 
of the cotton manufacture in Great Britain, form, perhaps, the most ex- 
traordinary page in the annals of human industry." It is not necessary 
on this occasion to trace its early growth, or to describe the mechanical 
inventions, by means of which it has come to exercise so powerful an 
influence upon the destinies of the civilized world. Those who are cu- 
rious to Ao thi.s, are referred to the memoir of Mr. Kennedy on that sub- 
ject, published in IBOO, among the memoirs of the Manchester Library 
and Philosophical Society, to Mr. Baines's History of the Cotton Man- 
ufacture in Great Britain, and the Essay of Dr. Ure on the Philosophy 
of Manufactures. The manufacture of cotton cloth in England, may 
be said to have really commenced about the year 1800, for, prior to 
that time, Dr. Carivvright's Power Loom had not been practically ap- 
plied to the weaving of co'ton goods. From that period even to the 
close of the American V\ ar, the manufacture of cotton in England lan- 
guished, but from the Peace of Ghent to 1840, it increased to an extent 
almost inciedible. until now the manufacturing power of Great Britain 
constitutes the chief element of her political strength and national great- 
ness. Strike from the realm of England her Manchester, her Birming- 
ham, her Leeds and her ShefFicIds, and that power which has shaken 
the world for the last century would be gone. The armies and navies 
of Great Britain have penetrated the remotest parts of the earth; but the 
factories — the workshops of Great Britain, have furnished the very ali- 
ment on which they have existed. With her cotton and other factories, 
she has been able to force a commercial iniercour.se with every portion 



91 

of ihe world, savage and civilized — always taking good care lo fostei 
these great, home interests by the most powerful protective policy. 

In the last ten years American skill and capital liaveent{!red the field 
of contest with Great Britain, and at this moment the cotton manufacto- 
ries of Manchester are sinking under the force of American competi- 
tion. 

And why is it, that for thirty-five years we have pennitted a foreign 
country to snatch from us all the profit of manufacturing the cotton 
which grows upon our own soil? It is needless, now, to refer to iho 
early struggles of our manufacturing interests. The vascillating policy 
of the government has rendered these interests, at times, somewhat inse- 
cure; but under all the changes of parties and policy, they have gradu- 
ally acquired strength, until now tlicy may be said to be almost inde- 
pendent of legislation. But had that liberal policy, which thus nursed 
them into an early maturity, been steadily pursued from die beginning, 
instead of sending $fJO,000,000 worth of cotton to Europe, to be man- 
ufactured at a profit of $120,000,000 to the manufacturers, we should 
now be manufacturing our own cotton, adding at least $100,000,000 
per annum to our wealtli, and with our cotton fabrics driving the En- 
glish manufacturers from the markets of the world. In time, this will 
be the result, but it will not be so until the subject is examined and un- 
derstood by the leading men of our countiy. Nero England has seen 
it, and how splendid are the results of her enterprize! Struggling early 
and steadily for the prize — in spite of all obstacles — pursuing with zeal 
and with confidence one uniform policy — rejecting the counsels of the 
timid, and resisting the influence of all hostile theories — she has succeed- 
ed in fixing these great interests upon firm foundations. 

But while New England enterprize and industry have been struggling 
against the preponderating capital and cheap labor of Europe, what 
have we been doing in the great West, either for ourselves or for the 
country? Did Nature group together her finest productions in all their 
grand proportions in this great valley, for no other purpose than to excite 
the cupidity of strangers? With rivers running from the base of the 
Alleghanies on the ease, and from (he rocky mountains on the west to 
the Gulf stream, traversing for tens of thousands of miles the richest 
valleys in the world, she has blended together, in one vast combination, 
all the elements of an extended internal commerce, a most varied and 
unrivalled agriculture, and of manufactures the most profitable and the 
most splendid. 

Portions of the west are teeming with the most valuable minerals, 
such as iron, lead, zinc, copper, &c., and with coal fields which sur- 
pass in richness and extent the finest coal measures of Great Britain. 

Within the range of 500 miles of uninterrupted and connected river 
navigation, can be found the best cotton, iron and hemp country or. this 
continent; and, within the same space, is also to be found the coal with 
which to manufacture these great materials into every form of which 
ihey are susceptible, for the use of man. 

About one hundred miles below Louisville, on the lower Ohio, the 



92 

great Illinois coal basin crosses the river. There, this great and indis- 
pensable element of manufacturing power is placed in close proximity 
to the iron and hemp of Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois and 
Missouri, and to ilie cotton fields of Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, 
and Arkansas. The question is now beginning to be asked, "why is 
our cotton carried to Boston to be manufactured at the Lowell and Law- 
rence factories, and then sent back here for sale, when we have these 
manifest advantages over New England ?" That steam is cheaper than 
water power is no longer doubted by any one who has examined the 
subject. litre, then, is the cheap moving power, for coal can be had 
for manufacturing purposes at 4 to 5 cents per bushel. Here is the raw 
material, and here is the best :; arket. But this is not all, for here now 
and in all time to come, will the cost of living be less than any where 
else in this co/ntry. There are, on the lower Ohio, several points 
where, in process of time, these coal beds must be appropriated to man- 
ufacturing purposes. At Bon Harbor, Triplett and Barrett have already 
made a cora.nencement. They are on the Kentucky side of the river, 
and perhaps occupy the best point for such purposes on that side. They 
have already erected a cotton factory, which has, by its complete suc- 
cess, more than vindicated their most sanguine views. The thing is no 
longer an experiment; their success is a "fixed fact." 

On the Indiana side of the Ohio, as a prominent point, I will men- 
tion Cannelion, which is about thirty miles above Bon Harbor, and 
about 120 miles below Louisville. " The American Cannel Coal Com- 
pany" own at that point some six or seven thousand acres of coal land. 
Although, for ten or twelve years past, inconsiderable quantities of coal 
have been dug there, it is only within the last five or six years that the 
business has assumed any degree of importance. 

A part of this extensive property is now leased to James Boyd, Esq., 
late of Boston, under whose judif;ious and energetic management the 
business is rapidly increasing. He employs about forty hands in the 
mines (most of them Englishmen from the English coal districts,) and 
is selling to steamers from two to three thousand bushels per day. The 
coal resembles the Cannel coal of England, and is the very best known 
in this country for the generation of steam. It is placed on boats, and 
sold to steamers at 7 cents per bushel, and can be furnished there to 
manufactories at 4 cents. The coal beds are inexhaustible, as is proved 
by a thorough geological examination lately made, and increase in rich- 
ness of quality and quantity the further they are worked. The position 
of the town (Cannelton) is extremely handsome, being on a plain, just 
above high water mark, on the north bank of the Ohio river, in Perry 
county, la., running back, with a gentle second swell, some 700 yards, 
to a line of hills in which is embedded this vast coal seam. The coal 
has a gentle dip towards the river, by which the mines drain themselves. 
Unlike the coal beds of England and Wales, which are found from 300 
to 1500 feet below the surface of the earth, and worked at a vast ex- 
pense and great hazard, here the entry into the mines is on a level, and 
the cars, which are drawn out by mules, are emptied from a platform 



93 

into cars below, which go by their own gravity to the river, where the 
coal is dropped into boats. Tiie front on the river is beautiful, present- 
ing, for several miles up and down, one of the most attractive landscapes 
whieh can be found from Pittsburgh to the mouth. The depth of the 
river on the side of the town is, for several miles, from 12 to 16 feet at 
low water, furnishing the very best possible river anchorage for vessels 
of every class. The neighboring hills are covered with fine timber for 
ship-building, there being an abundance of oak, locust. &c. Immedi- 
ately on the river, at the upper end of the company's lands, the bluffs 
are filled with the finest building stone, easily quarried, and inexhaust- 
ible in quantity, where now the United States are procuring their stone 
for the government works at Memphis. Fire stone and fire clay are 
found there of good quality and in unlimited quantities. Added to all 
this, it is in a free State (which by some may be regarded as an import- 
ant fact,) and is as healthy as any position west of the Alleghany moun- 
tains. . 

I will not say that this point presents viore advantages as a manufac- 
turing position than any other in the wide world, but it presents enough 
to render it prominent. It is impossible that these advantages can be 
long overlooked. If those who are most interested in the progress of 
Western manufacturers do not go forward, others will. New England 
enterprize and capital would long ago have appropriated these generous 
gifts had they been within their legitimate field of action; for, in spite of 
a capricious legislation — in spite of the high price of labor, the high 
price of coal, the high price of provisions, and the vast cost of trans- 
portation — New England, at this moment, is the acknowledged rival (if 
rival she has) of the greatest manufacturing power of the world, so fax 
as the article is concerned. 

How long will it be before we manufacture o\m owncolton, and iron^ 
and hemp, and wool — how long shall we yield to Manchester the sixty 
millions of dollars annually for the manufacture of a single article, the 
profits of which legitimately belong to us — remains to be seen. Four 
hundred millions of dollars are invested in Lancashire, England, in the 
manufacture of cotton, while in our whole country, the amount employ- 
ed in the same way does not probably reach fifty millions. In the 
West, with all our advantages over New England, we have scarcely 
made a commencement, and how long we shall yield to Lowell the 
profit of manufacturing what we can manufacture and prepare for mar- 
ket from 15 to 40 per cent, cheaper than she can, seems yet to be un- 
settled. The men are here qualified to go forward in this enterprize. A 
few have made a mere commencement, but the fears of the many are 
always apt to be stronger than their convictions. The capital is here, 
but it is hoarded up by the more cautious, or invested in business more 
familiar to us in the West than the business of manufacturing. This 
state of things cannot last, for when the subject is examined, every man 
will be convinced that the employment of capital here, in manufactur- 
ing, under good management, cannot fail to yield larger and most cer-. 
tain profits than any other business. — Louisville Courier, 1848. H. 



94 

The foregoing estimates show our advantages over New England lor 
manufacturing. The following extracts from a paper in the Louisville 
Journal of August 8, 1849, show some of the advantages we possess 
over Great Britain: 

In our discussions and legislation on our manufacturing interest, we have 
generally taken it for granted tiiat at least a revenue larifi" was absolutely re- 
quired, to susiain the western mill owner; consequently, the impression has 
everywhere obtained, that maniilactures, on a large scale (and it mattered 
not at what position in our valley,) must be unsafe depositories of capital, 
until the general policy of government could be fully ascertained and continu- 
ous protection relied on. 

This opinion, almost universal here and abroad, must be wholly changed, 
before we can make rapid progress in the establishment of manulactures. 

The foreign artisan will not leave a country where lie does not requ re pro- 
tection, for one where protection is required; he will not abandon certainty for 
uncertainty. And our own capitalists will not embark in a business, which, as 
they daily hear from the East, is subject to constant fluctuations and losses, un- 
til they are satisfied ihai they can place themselves on safer ground. " 

With the suggestion, tliat there may be some "method" in the complainings 
of our rich eastern brethren; that they may have had no desire to foster com- 
petition in a country where there are greater elements of mannfacluring sac- 
cess than in their own; we proceed to show, that, in the home combination of 
food, iron, cotton, hemp, wood and wool, and in sections where the other ele- 
ment, power, can bo obtained cheap, the western manuluctiirer is independent 
of foreign competition. We nfer chieflly to coarse labrics, and shall state the 
relative advantages of the counties of Lancaster, Stalfordshire, and the West 
Riding in England, and of the counties of Perry and Greene, Ind., and Da- 
viess, Crittenden and Caldwell, Ky. 

We have to examine the relative cost of food, labor, jiovver, materials and 
transportation. 

It is difficult to classify the various items of subsistence, and to show the rel- 
attive cost of living in the respective districts. A man can exist on a penny a 
day in London, and perhaps in the cellar of the very house where parlor board- 
ers pay a guinnea for every dinner, l.qnivalfnt quantities and qualities must 
only be regarded, and, without quoting largely from prices current, it is fair to 
lix on wheat, wliich is grown in perfection here and there, as die standard. 
Of this, our rate would not average 70 cents per bushel, while die English rate 
would average over ^h'^O per bushel. The relative rents or value of equiva- 
lent land, free from taxation and near markets equivalent in extent, would bo 
ten or twen'y to one in our favor. 

Mr. Carey, in his work on political economy, gives ample proof that our 
labor, measured by its eificiency, is the cheapest, and the following quotation 
which we take from page 229 of 2d volume of Mills' Political Economy (the 
most recent English work on that science.) will save us the trouble of making 
further comparison on that point: 

"In America, wages are much highi^r than in England, if we mean, by wages, 
the daily earnings of the laborer; but the productive power of American labor 
is so great — its efficiency, combined with the favorable circumstances in which 
it is exerted, makes it worth so much to the purchaser, that the cost of labor ut 
hirer in America tlian in England " 

PowF.R. — In the strata of our central coal basin, which average about four 
feet in thickness, a good miner will dig and wheel, to the mouth of the drift, 
from 70 to 110 bushels of lump coal in ten hours; as the labor in these strata is 
healihy, safe, and notirl;some. it is well paid, compared with our present prices 
of agricultural labor, at .'fil 25 per day; eighty bushels should cost say one and 
a half cents per bushel, besides rent, which, on the most favorable sites, is not 
over one cent per bushel; add one half cent, for profit to the contractor, and 
we have the cost of our best lump coals, at three cents per bushel, jit the 



95 

finnace tloor of the mill or furriaco, and directly on navigable streams, canals or 
railroads, by which these strata are cut. 

These coals are. according lo the report of Prof. Johnson, eijiial in evapora- 
tive power to the best English coals, the average cost ot which, at the pit'? 
month, is not less than ten cents per bnsliel. The average price of Innip coal? 
at Newcastle, and for li.e last forty years, has been I'Js. Id. per ton, or a fraction 
over ten cents per bushel. The prices of the best coals at Liverpool have aver- 
aged $',i ()7 per ton, or say 13 cciiis per bushel. 

It will bo borne in mind, tiiat tiie prices of coals in England have reached their 
lowest points; here the tendency of prices at the mines is downward. 

Here there is a most im[)orlant element (one which has made I'.ngland what 
she is) at less than one-third its cost in the country from which, as is supposed, 
we require protection. 

Cotton. — From the central cotton fields of the .<onthwest. cotton can be laid 
down at the factories bnilt and to be built up on the banks of the Ohio, in Da- 
\ less and Perry counties, as cheap as at New Orleans. The cost and charges of 
removing cotton (rom New Orleans to Manchester is not less, on the average, 
than one and a half cents per pound Here we have an advantage of say 
twenty per cent, in obtaining the chief material of clolh. 

As to this, our great staple — a staple in uhich we virtually have the monopoly 
— it is the heiglit of absurdity to suppose that its manufacturers, 5,(100 miles dis' 
tant, can compete with us, even it Wf had no other advantage than the saving in 
transportation. 

Iron. — We can find no tables of the actual cost of iron in England, and the 
prices are so fluctualiug as to be an nnsafe criterion. About 1635, the cost at 
jVlerthyr, Tydvil, in South Wales, is stated to ha.'e been £3 Os. 5d., and at Glaa 
gow, £'2 ITs. 9d. per on for hot blast cast iron. This cost hiis been reduced by 
the introduction of new and improved processes, which we ha\e been slow in 
adopting, m consequence of the high cost of machinery and fi.xtures. A com- 
plete set of three furnaces costing, in Erigland, about .f 100.000. 

The clay iron stone of the coal measures is the chief ore smelted in England; 
and perhaps the position most favorable (or this niannfactiire in that kingdom, is 
ill the south of IStaffordshire, where are associated the pit coal and iron ore, the 
limestone for fluxes and the fire-clay and fire-stone for construction of the fnrna 
ces. The crude iron-stone there rarely yields over its 30 parts in the 100 of 
ore. It is drawn up with the coal some hundreds ofyards from the surface, and, 
notwithstanding the low prices of labor and capital, costs an average of 12 shil- 
lings a tO!i. Tlie best quality of "giMin," runs up to IG and 17 shillings. At 
24 cents the shilling, the average stated is ^2 88 per ton. the cost of lime-stone 
i.s abont $1 44 per ton, and of coals, equivalent to ours, certainly over seven 
cents a bushel, or $1 9G per ton. 

By the best processes that we have seen described for making hot blast iron, 
we may set down three tons of coals and one ton of lime sione for the ton of 
iron, and thus obtain the cost of the crude materials combined in that ton: 

Iron stone, three tons, at .S2 88 $8 64 

Coals, three tons, at $1 98 5 88 

Limestone, one ton 1 9G 

$16 48 

From the imperfect data before us, we think that the cost of conversion, in- 
cluding labor, interest on capiial, &c , «S:c , must be at least ^3 32 per ton; ma- 
king the whole cost $20 per ton 

At the best iron works in New England, and wi'h ore of about tlie same yield, 
lliis cost of convertion is not far from $5 50 per ton. 

The price of Scotch pig iron in New York is now quoted at $1S per ton, duty 
paid; but we are not advised of the losses or profits of the producer or the qual- 
ity of the article; and we cannot ascertain the cost of the crude materials. 

In our western counties enumerated, we iiavc ironstone of greater purity, 
(ours averaging from 30 to 60 per cent.) pit-coa!, fire-stone, fire-clay, and lime- 



96 

stone of as good quality. At our high prices of labor, and with our imperfect 
maciiinery and lack of system, in the very infancy of the manufacture here, our 
crude materials will average about thus: 

Three tons of ore, at $1 $3 00 

Three tons of coal, at f 1 3 00 

One tone of limestone, at 75 cet.ts 75 



against the Staffordshire cost of $16 48. 

If charcoal is used, at a cost of three cents per bushel, and allowing 200 bush- 
els to the ton of iron, we increase the cost of materials to $9 75 per ton, and we 
get a much better article. 

At the furnaces erected on the banks of the Cumberland, and close by uncov- 
■ered beds of rich iron-stone, the cost of the ore is said to be less than 75 cents 
per ton. 

In the estimate of cost here, we put the minimum rates at the most favorable 
positions. It is more important to show what can be than what is done. 

A very low cost of stone-coal iron in Scotland and Wales is slated to be 38s. 
($9 16) per ton. Perhaps the average cost is over 42s. $10 08) when there are 
fair crops and no unusual scarcity of money in England. 

The cost of moving a ton of pig-iron from Staffordshire (the heart of England) 
to the central cities of this valley, even if taken as ballast from Liverpool or Bris- 
tol to New Orleans, cannot be less than $8 per ton — making the whole cost here 
lrom$17 to $24 per ton, icithovt any duty. Now, unless we have been griev- 
ously hoaxed in answer to our inquiries, pig-iron of greater value is now made on 
the Cumberland, the White and the Merrimack (Mo.) rivers, at less than $15 
per ton, if not less than $12 per ton, and, at these positions, there are all the 
materials sufficiendy abundant for the making of iron for a thousand years, and 
for the use of the world. 

Such of our readers as wish to learn more of the details of the cost and ma- 
king of iron, are referred to the works of Dr. Ure, R. C. Taylor, and the able 
paper of Mr. Hodge, published in the Railroad Journal. 

Wool. — The grades of wool are so various, that the relative cost of equiva- 
lent kinds, in England, and on the Ohio, cannot be given (at least by us) with 
accuracy; yet we know very well that we have every variety of climate, soil and 
food, for sheep husbandry, and either on the sides of the Appalachian mountains 
or on the central prairies, we can produce every kind of sheep and wool of any 
fineness. We know that it must cost less to produce wool on our cheap lands, 
than on the costly and highly taxed lands of England and Belgium; and, if we 
should have to obtain full supply from the mountains of Spain or the pampas of 
South America, the average distance is not against us, aud the natural attractions 
are greatest to our cheaper food and fuel. 

Wood. — Here, of course, there can be no question of our advantages. From 
the building of a ship to the making of a cradle, we have the material at our 
doors, while England has to obtain her chief supply from the heart of Europe 
or this side of the rapids of the St. Lawrence. 

Indeed, in the enumeration of the entire list of heavy and bulky raw material 
which a manufacturing people require, we can think of scarcely one in which 
we have not, or cannot ea.sily have, a most decided advantage over England and 
every other country where are equal facilities of communication and interchange, 
and where the character of the people, the laws and the climate, are equally fa- 
vorable to manufacturing pursuits. 

Such are the general facts, and we could here rest our argument. But, as it 
is always easy to answer general statements by statements equally general, and, 
as the mass of readers will not take the trouble to analyze either, vv'e will again 
recur to the cotton manufacture, which is, directly or indirectly, the chief source 
of employment to the manufacturing world. 

For the correctness of our details, we refer to a pamphlet recently published 
by General C. T. James, of Rhode Island, whose statements on the subject will 



97 

not bo qncstioncd, and who?e able letter ought to be studied by every western 
and soiUheni stute:jiiia!i and capitalist. 

A cotton mill of 10.01)0 spindles and corresponding machinery, for making 
coarse brown cottons, will require a fixed and working capital of less than 
$300,000; will operate with 415 men and 229 women and children; will require 
say .")0,000 bushels of ■ oal, and work up 1,800,000 pounds cotton yearly. 

This cotton can be laid down at the month of the Tradewater, at Bon Harbor, 
or at Canneltoii, as cheap as at New Orleans. 

1'he freight, uisiirance, uHeresl in transitu, wastage, commission, «&.c., from 
the New Orleans levee and through the cotton press, to Manchester, Glasgow, 
Lisle or Bruges, will average over l.h cents per pound. 

Our mill saves this, or $27,000 

Difference in coal in our favor over 4 cents per bushel, 2,000 

Difference ia starch, oil, wood, &c., &c., over 1,000 

$30,000 

England has no advantages over ns, in making those coarse fabrics, save in 
the abundance and low raie of her capital, and this is nearly or quite neutralized 
by her distance from the raw material and the necessary use of a greater capital 
in its conversion either in ttie hands of the ship owner, factor, or manufacturer. 

But. for the argument, we will suppose that the Englishman only requires 
$300,000 for the mill; that he is satisfied with 4 ])er cent dividends, and we re- 
quire 8 per cent. In this item, then, he has the yearly advant.age of $12,000. 

There is abundant evidence to show that the New England mills can make a 
pound of coarse cottons cheaper than their Manchester competitors; and there 
IS abundant evidence that we can make up the same quantity cheaper than the 
New Englander — yet, as this question of wages is a stiunbling block to our peo- 
ple who have not examined the subject, we will show the doubters the weakness 
of their doubts by supposing that our Ohio river mill will pay Lowell wages, 
and that the English mill owner can get his work done at half our prices. How- 
ever, when we are clothing the English army in India, and against a differential 
duty of 15 per cent, this supposition would really seem absurd. 

Well, at the Lowell rates, the yearly cost of the forty-five men at 80 cents per 
day, is, for 

300 days, $10,820 

And of the 229 women and children, at $2 per week, for 52 weeks is 23,816 

Or, total...... $34,136 

One halt ol this is $17,068 

To which add the supposed difference against us in the use of cap- 

Mor $12,000 

And we have $29,068 

as the sum of the advantages of the English manufacturers, and less than the 
sum of our known and certain and unchaiu'eable advantages of $932 per annum; 
and this, not for our home market, but {\7x markets equally near to both. For 
our home markets, we have the further advantage of the cost of bringing four 
and a half millions yards of cotton, or over $45,000 per annum. " 

By the time that we have supplied our home market with the coarse cotton 
fabrics, we shall have the skill, niachineiy and capital, to produce these at a low- 
er relative cost, and to compete with foreign manufac;urera in the finer fabrics 
of cotton. 

9 



98 

GENERAL LAW OF INDIANA KESPECTING C0RP0RATI0M3, 
Indiana Herised Statutes of 1843. — Chaj). 32. — Article 2. 

Skc. 14. All corporations shall, where no other provision is especially made- 
be capable, in their corporate name, to sue and be sued, appear, prosecute, and 
del'eud, to final judgment and execution, in any courts, or elsewhere;* to liave 
a connnou seal, which they may alter at pleasure; to elect, in such manner as 
lliey shall determine to be proper, all necessary OiTicers, and to fix their com- 
pensation, and define their duties and obligations; and to make by-laws and 
regulations, consistent with the constitution and laws of this fcstaie and the 
United States, for their own governuent, and for the due and orderly conduct- 
ing of their affairs, and the management of their property.? 

St.c. 15- All corporations may, by their by laws, where no other provisioij 
is especially made, determine the manner oi' calling and conducting all meet- 
ings, the number of members that saall constitute a quorum, the nnmber of 
siiares that shall eutitle the members to one or more votes, the mode of voting 
bv jiroxv, the niode ol" selling shares I'or the non-p,iyment of asse.ssmeuts, and 
tile tenure of ollice of the several officers; but no such by-law shall be made 
by any corporation >-epuguant to any jjrovision of its charter. 

Sec. 16. The first meeting of all corporations shall, unless otherwise pro- 
vided for in their acts of incorporation, be called by a notice signed by any one 
or more of the persons named in the act of incorporation, and setting forth the 
time, place, and purposes of the meeting; and tuch notices shall, seven days 
at least before the meeting, be delivered to each member, or published in some 
nnvvspaper of the county where the corporation may be established, or if there 
be no newspaper in the county, then in some newspaper of an adjoining 
county. 

.Sec. 17. Such corporation, when so assembled, may elect ofiicers to fill all 
vacancies then exisung, and mav act upon such other business as might by law 
be transacted at regular meetings of the corporation. 

Sec 18. Every such corporation may hold lands to an amount authorized by 
law, and may convey the same. 

Sec. jy. All corporations whose charters shall expire by their own linutation, 
or shall lie annulled by (orfeiture or otherwise, shall nevertheless be continued 
bodies corjjorate, for the term of three years alter the time when they would 
have been so dissolved, for the jjurpose of prosecuting ajid defending suits by 
or a"ainst them, and of enabling them gradually to settle and close their con- 
cerns, to dispose of and convey their property and to divide their capital 
stock, but not for the purpose of continuing the business for which such cor- 
]>orations liave been or may be established.^ 



' A corporation le!r;:lly created in any one of the states may Bue in tiie courts of this state. 
T'le Guaga Iron Company v. Daivson, 4 Biiickf. 2U2. 

A party contracting with a corporation is estopped from saying that they were not at tli« 
lime a corporation. 2 Bhickf. 307. Bnt a party is not e>topj cJ from denying that the corpora- 
iion existed at the lime the suit was brought. 4 Blackf. 20U. 

Ttie declaration in a suit brought in a corporate name need not aver the phiintijfs to be a cor- 
poration. Harris v. The Muskingum Manufacturing Company, 4 Blaclcf. 2(j7. 

t The whole cor|ioration is answerable, so far as it.'- franchises are in question for the miscon- 
duct of the president and directors, or other st lect body in the management of the concerns 
under t'icir control. Bunk of Kincenncs S. B. v. Tke Stcte, 1 Blackf 267. 

* Tlie debts due to or from a corporation are extinguished hy its dissolution; its lands and' 
fenHitir-iita revert to the grantor and his heirs, and its goods and chattels become vested in tbe- 
-tate. Bank nf Fincennes S. B.v. The Stale, 1 Blackf. "67. 

A i>lea in ab.itement to an action bj' a corporation, that the charter is forfeited in consequence' 
of a mis-user or non-user of the franchises cannot be good, unless it show the forfeiture to have 
lioen judicially declared in the instance of the govcriimeut. John ct al. v. The Farmers' and 
Mechanics^ Sank of Indiaiui. 2 Blackf 367. 

A plea to a suit by a corporation, stating that the corporation had been dissolved by the acln 
<if Its members, without showing the causes and manner of the dissolution, is insniflcient. Her 
/ .s V. The Muskingum, Manufacturing Company, i Blackf. 207. 

As to a judgment against a corporation in case of a forfeiture, the uffect of such judgment. 
A^c tee BdTtk nf Vincenncs S. B. y. Tiie State, 1 Blackf. 2i>7. 



99 

Si'.c. 20. When the charter of nny corporation shall Cipir*; or ]>p jumiillo!,'. 
as provided in the precedin;; section, the cirenit court of the county in which 
such corporation carries on its business, or lias its principal place of hiisiness. 
on ajjplicationof any creditor of snch corporation, or of any stockholder or 
memher thereof, at any time within the said three years, may appoint one or 
more persons to be receivers or trustees of and for such corporation, to take 
charge of the estate and ettects thereof, and to collect the debts and property 
due and belon^Mn<r to the corporation, with power to prosecute and defend, in 
the nanu! ot the corporation or olliervvise, all such suits as may be iiecessajy or 
proper, for the purposes aforesaid; and to appoint an agent or agents under 
them, and to do all other acts which might be done by such corporation, if in 
being, that may he necessary for the final settlement of the unfinished busine<-< 
of the corporation; and the power of such receivers may be continued beyomf 
the s;iid three years, and as long as the court shall think neces.«ary for the pur- 
poses aforesaid. 

Sec. 21. The said court shall have jurisdiction in chancery of such applica- 
tion, and of all questions arising in tlie proceedings tliereon, and may make 
.such orders, injunction-;, and decrees thereon as justice and equity shall 
require 

Skc. 22. The said receivers shall pay all debts due from the corporation, if 
the funds in their hands shall he sufficient therefor, and if not, they shall dis- 
tribute the same rateably among all the creditors, who shall prove their deb;s 
in the manner that shall be directed by any order or decree of the court for 
that purpose; and if there shall be any balance remaining after the payment 
r)f said debts, the receivers shall distribute and pay the same to and among 
those who shalW^e justly entitled thereto, as having been stockholders or mem- 
bers of the corporation, or their le^al rej^resentatives. 

Sec. 23. If there shall be no person entitled to receive the same, or any part 
thereof, it shall be paid into the state treasury, to be disposed of in sncli man- 
>ier as the general assembly may at any time direct. 



en.\KrEK of the American CA?.•^•EL, coal compa^-v. 
AN ACT to incorporate the American Caunol Coal Conipatiy; 

Skctiov ]. Be it enacted hij the Gcnrnd As'eniMy of the State of Indlnnu: That 
Seth Hunt, .Tohn D. W. Williams .lames T. Hobert, J. B. Ilupell, FJijah IJver- 
more, .and their -associates, successors and assigns, shall be and they hereby are 
created and incorporated a body politic and corporate by and under the name 
and title of tile American Cannel Coal Company, for the purposes of mining 
for -stone-coal at Coal Hav.n, in th.e County of" Perry, and elsewhere in said 
county, and also for iron ore and other materials, and for manufacturing iron, 
copperas and lumber, and building steam and flat boats for the transportanon of 
coal, lumber, iron and other products, and by the aforesaid name, may pro.seciite 
and defejid suits at law and ecjnity, have a common seal, choose all necessan.' 
officers, and make and establish such by-laws, rules and regulations as they mav 
deem necessary and expedient for the management of the business and the gov- 
ernment of the interests and concertis of the said company: ■provided, the same 
be not repu:;nant to the con.tituUou and laws of this State aiul the United 
States, 

Skc. 2. Bf it further enacted: That the said Company may purchase, receive, 
hold and enjoy, lands, coal, iron and other mines, rents, tenements, mills and 
manufactories, furnaces and forges, steamboats and other water craft, goods, 
chattels and ellects, to the amount of three hundred thousand dollars to be divi- 
ded into shares of one hundred dollars each, with liberty to increase the capital 
stock to five hundred thousand dollars, should the business of said company re- 
quire it, and the same to sell, convey and demise, and generally, with power to 
do and perform all acts and things, and have, exercise and enjoy all the rights. 



100 

immunities and privileges pertaining to companies legally incorporated: provid- 
ed, that all the estate, real and personal, held and owned by said company, 
shall be held liable to assessment and taxation in the same manner as if the same 
were held and owned by an individual. 

Sec. 3 Be it further enacted: that the business of the said company shall be 
mining for coal, iron ore and other materials, the manufacture of the same in 
their various branches, the manufacture of copperas, sawing, and manufacturing 
iJour and lumber, building steamboats and other water craft, mi Is, furnaces and 
forges, and in transporting coal, iron, lumber and other products from Coal Ha- 
ven and other places, to Mew Orleans and elsewhere, as may be most advanta- 
geous to the business and interests of said company. 

Sec. 4. Be it further enacted: That the business of said company shall be 
carried on by one or more general agents, to be duly appointed by and to be 
under and subject to the direction and control of tlnee (3) directors of said com- 
pany, to be annually clioseii by the stockholders of said company. Said direct- 
ors shall be chosen annually on the first Monday in May, by ballot, from among 
the stockholders, v/ho shall hold their oflices for one year, and until other direct- 
ors are legally chosen by a majority of the votes given, either by the stockholder.'^ 
present or by written pro.xy from tho.se not present, and each stockholder shall 
be entitled to one vote for each share which he or she may hold in the capital 
stock of said company. The" persons, or either two of them, mentioned in the 
first section of this act may organize said comjiany, but the first election shall be 
liolden in Coal Haven, in Perry county, aforesaid, on the first Monday of May 
next, or sooner if required by a majority of the stockholders, and John D. W. 
Williams, James T. Hobert and J. 1). Russell, or either of them are hereby au- 
thorized to receive subscriptions to the stock of said comjiany, ajid at such time* 
.ind at such places as they may deem expedient after the passage of this act, 
which subscriptions shall be paid at such times and in such manner as the board 
of directors shall ordain and direct, and any two of the persons named in this act 
may act as judges and managers of said first election, but at each subsequent 
annual election, the acting directors shall act as judges and shall manage and 
conduct said elections, and f ai 1 directors shall elect one of their number to act aa 
president of said board of directors, and in case of a vacancy of one of said 
board by death or otherwise, the remainder of the board of directors shall have 
yiower to fill said vacancy. The majority of the board shall form a quorum capa- 
ble to transact the business of said company, and the said directors shall have 
full power and autliinity to carry into effect all the designs contemplated in the 
act of incorporation. 

Sec 5. Bu it further ennctcd: That the said company may acquire by agree- 
ment and contract with the owneis and proprietors of lands the right of way for 
the purposes of having roads from their coal mines to the Ohio river, and they 
may make and improve all such roads in such manner as may be most advanta- 
geous to said company. The said company may also acquire such vvare-housea 
and lots a.-? may be required for storing their coal, lumber and other products of 
their several works and for the better enabling them to carry on the business in 
its various departments. 

Sec. 6. Be it further enacted: That the President and directors of said compa- 
ny shall appoint one treasurer and one secretary to keep the funds and accounts 
and record the proceedings of said company, and the books of tlie said company 
shall at all times be subject to the free inspection of any of the stockholders, and 
should a majority of the said stockholders require it, a true and just statement 
of the accounts, property and business of the said company shall be annually 
published by said treasurer and secretary, duly certified by the President and 
directors, and the said President and directors shall from time to time make and 
pay, or cause to be paid to the stockholders, such dividends of the profits, as the 
condition of the said company will justify, without diminishing the capital stock 
of said company. 

Sec 7. The said company shall not engage in any species of banking busi- 
ness, or issue bills payable to bearer, in the iorm or nature of bank bills, nor is- 
sue checks for money deposited in banks or elsewhere other than in actual pay- 
ment of debts. 



101 

8kc. 8. The stockholderr, in said conipany sliall bo respectively iiable for any 
ocbts due by or damages accruing a-rainst said company during the time they 
nre such stockholders respectively, to the amount of iher stock, and no further, 
and in proporiinn to the amount of their stock, so severally held to be recov- 
ered by a suit in cqiiitv: provlilrd, tiiat belore such liability shall attach as afore- 
said, there shall be a return nulla bona, or not a suificiency to satisfy an execu- 
tion issued against said company. 

Skc. 9. A violation of any of the provisions of this act shall forthwith be in 
law a forfeiture of all the corporate powers thereof 

Skc. 10. This act siiall be, and liie same hereby is. declared to be a public 
act, for the purposes herein specified, and shall take effect, continue, and be in 
force during tlie term of fifty years from and after a certified copy thereof shall 
have been deposited in the clerk's olfice of Perry county, unless the .'•aid com- 
pany shall sooner !)e vohmtarily di.s.solved by a vote of a majority of the stock- 
holders, of which public notice shall be given by the President and directors of 
said company, who shall file a copy of said notice in the clerk's oliice of said 
county of Perry, and cause the same to be published in the newspaper in In- 
dianapolis, in which, at the time, the laws o( the State are ollicially printed; 
and in the event of the voluntary dissolution of said company, before tlie expi- 
ration of the period of its termination by this act, the President, directors and 
stockholders shall be allowed two years to settle and close the accounts of the 
flaid Jcompany, in the same manner and with the same powers as ihougli the 
President, directors, and stockholders were st;ll a corporate body. 

THOS. J. EVANS, 
Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
DAVIU WALLACE, 

President of the Senate. 

Approved December third, eighteen hundred and thirty-seven. 

IIAVID WALLACE. 

STATE OF INDLVNA, > ^ 
Secretary's Oliice. ^ 

L Wm. J. Brown, Secretary of State for the State afore- 
said, do hereby certify that the foregoing ia a true and faithful copy of tlic 
original enrolled bill now on file in this office. 

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand and aflixed 
[l. s. ] the se.il of the State, at Indianapolis, this twenty-third day of De- 
cember, A. D. 1837. WILLIAM J. BROWN. 

Secretary of State. 



AN ACT to .amend "an act to incorporate the American Canne! Coal Com- 
pany," approved December 23, 1637. 

Sec, 1. Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Indiana: That 
the American Caiinel Coal Company, created by the act to which this is an 
amendment, be, and they are hereby authorized to increase their capital stock 
to an amount not exceeding one million of dollars, in shares of one iumdred 
dollars each, whenever they may deem it advisable; provided, said increase of 
capital stock is necessary for the bona fide transactions of said company. 

Sec. 2. Said company may subscribe stock in other manufacturing compa- 
nies or corporations to the extent and value of land privileges and materials 
furnished by said American Caiinel Coal company to such other manufactur- 
ing companies or corporations. 

Sec. 3. The directors of said American Cannel Coal Company shall, after 
t!ie next annual eleciion of directors and ofiicers thereof, consist of not less 
than five nor more than nine membeis of said company, to be chosen in con- 
formity to the provisions of the act to which this is an amendment, the number 
to be determined on and chosen at the said next ani:ual election. 

Sec 4. Said company for the purposes of raising money to improve their 
property, by the construction of roads, streets, wharfs and railways thereon 

9* 



102 

and for any other purposes connected with the legitimate operation of thff 
company, shall have a right to issue their bonds, bearing interest at not exceed- 
ing ten per cent per annum, payable semi annually, payabi s at a period not 
greater than twenty years from the date of their issue; which bonds shall ope- 
rate as a lien upon the rents and profits of the property of said company from 
the maturity of said bonds, or the coupons for the interests tiiereon respect- 
ively; provided however, that no such bond or bonds, shall be issued as afore- 
said, except upon a vote of three-fourths of the stockholders in interest of said 
company, and no bond shall be issued for a less amount than five hundred 
dollars 

Sec. 5. Said company shall have the right, by a vote of two-thirds of the- 
stockholders in interest, to sub.seribe stock in companies or corporations crea- 
ted in other States. 

Sec. 6. This act to take eff'ect and be in force from and after its passage. 

G. W. CARR, 
Speaker of the House of Repre.sentative^. 
JAMES H. LANE, 

President of the Senate. 
Approved January 21, 1850. 

JOSEPH A. WRIGHT. 

STATE OF INDIANA: 

I, Charles H. Test, Secretary of State for the State 
of Indiana do hereby certify the foregoing to be a true full and complete copy 
of tlie within recited act as appears from the enrollment on file in my office. 

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and affixed thp 
[i.. s.] seal of the State, at Indianapolis, this 29th day of .lanuary, A. D- 
1850 CHARLES H. TEST, 

Secretary of State. 



C-\NNELT0X, a post towu in Perry county, four miles below the moutli of Deer 
creek and six above Troy, at the mouth of Anderson river. It now contains 
(iOO inhabitants; but the indications of its rapid growth are evident from the supe- 
riority of its position and the richne.ss of its beds of coal, fire-clay, building stone, 
&.C. During the la.^t two sessions of the Legislature, ten charters, with an ag- 
gregate capital of several millions of dollars, were obtained for manufactories at 
this point, presenting as it dous, in the opinion of practical and scientific men, 
advantages for the manufacturing of cotton, iron, hemp, wool, glass snd stone- 
ware, not found in any other place in combination. The coal in the hills imme- 
diately back of the town, is of the best quality, is inexhaustible ai}d easy of ac- 
cess, and is underlaid by excellent fire-clay. In the same hills, fire-stone and 
sand stone, of a .superior quality for building, are found in great abundance; 
and near the bank, common clay and sharp white sand in large deposites. The 
vast influence which steam is to exert upon the growth of the manufacturing 
skill and industry of the great Western valley, deficient as it is in water power, 
and the immense importance that will be attached to coal for the supply of the 
fleets of steamers that will bear its commerce over its long diverging avenues of 
trade, extending from points thousands of miles asunder, and requiring voyage* 
equal in length to the passage of the Atlantic, will make coal deposits a subject 
of deep interest to the statesman, and to all who have an interest in the prosper- 
Vty of these favored regions. Most bountiful is the ."upply of mineral wealth to 
this richest seat oT nature's munificence, and doubtless will equal the most ex- 
tended iise which her other gifts can ever demand. 

The section of the coal seam at Cannelton increases in thickness in the inte- 
rior, as where it is cut by the White, Eel and Wabash rivers, it is from .six to ten 
feet- thick. 



104 



The importance of this coal field to Indiana, tiie weilth liiat is to be dug onl of 
her hills, so long overlooked, the home market that will here be made ior our 
agricultural products, tlie capital and population which will be attracted Croni 
abroad by this aflhieiit combination of inaimCactiiriiig advantages warrant the 
anticipation tliat Camiekoii, at no distant day, may become a large and itn[!or- 
t^nt manufacturing city. — CliamhtrLaai' s Gazetteer of Indiana, Jb'i9. 



This town was first laid out in 1835. and settled by colliers under the super 
vision of Rhodes and McLane. In 18;]G the American Canned Coal Compa 
ny was formed, which owes its origin to the late Cen. fc'eth Hunt, of New 
Hampshire; a man whose intelligence was only equalled by the energy of his 
character, and who, in connection with '''essrs. Ilobart, Williams and Russell, 
then wealthy capitalists of Doston, purchased a large tract of land, consisting 
of about 7l)U0 acres, and made several entries to the coal strata. The capital 
stock of this company is $:)O0,0f!n. From 400,000 to 500,000 bushels of coal is 
mined here per annum. The site of this town is on a bend of the Ohio, and 
embraces over 1000 acres between the river and the coal hills. The landing 
is very fine. The principal improvements and growth of Cannellon have 
taken place within the last twelve months. Its pojiulation is now somewhere 
between 1200 and 1500 persons. 

The most extensive improvement in the place is the Cannehon cotton mill. 
The Indiana cotton factory, which is represented by figure 7 on the map, i>< 
not yet commenced, although the stock of the company is taken, and the 
building will be under way in a few weeks. In addition to the church already 
erected, a Presbyterian church is to he put up during the present season, be- 
sides a Catholic chapel. A large first class hotel, containing over 70 sleeping 
rooms, is now being constructed, and will he ready for occupation by the last 
of May. Besides vhe .'^aw and grist mill of J. V. Forter & Co.. referred to on 
the map, the cotton mill company have already in operation a fine steam plan- 
ing mill, and connected with the same power, several circular saws, turning 
lathes, &c. The establishment of Mr. Z. W. Merrithew, for the manufacture 
of shaved shingles, is also worthy of notice. A short distance above Castle- 
bury creek, and upon the bank of the river, Messrs Ross, Talbott & Co. are 
erecting a large saw and flouring mill. Just below tlie m-'uth of Dnzier creek, 
Mr. Thomas M. Smith is about huildinsr another saw mill. A building lias 
already been erected by Messrs. Smith & Badger for a foundry, but is not yet 
in operation. The tin, copper and *heet iron establishment of J. S.Thayer 
& Bro. is well known to the community. Recently our friend Beacon has 
commenced the manufacture of brick, and in a short time will be ready to fill 
all orders in this respect. We have some eight or ten stores of different 
kinds, and a full supply of professional gentlemen. We have bakers, butchers, 
shoemakers, titilors and milliners. 

The Rev. Mr. Wiiitworth preaches to us evrry Sabbath, and Mrs Whit- 
worth will open a school for the education of females on the first of next 
month. A Sabbath School is duly organized and in successful (ipcra.tion. with 
a large number of pupils. There are two private ."schools in the place, kept by 
Messrs. Jones and Gardner. A division of the order of the Sons of Temper- 
ance is establishel here, and quite recently a very respectable number of lads 
entered the ranks of Total Abstinence, under the title of "Cadets." and are 
fighting manfully against the use of intoxicating liquors. Th.e zeal which they 
manifest in the cause is worth}' the imitation of older people. An association 
for the diffusion of useful knowledge and the establishment of a circulating 
library has been formed and a few volumes purcha.=ed, which it is hoped will 
induce the spirit of reading, and result in a large acquisition of useful books, 
by which still more good may ultimately be accomplished. 

We have thus briefly referred to the most important improvements of our 
town, although in our remarks we have said nothing of the private dwellings 
now being erected in all parts of the village, nor of oihers that we know are 
to be erected during the present season. — Canndton Economist. 



105 

AN ACT to incorporate the Cannelton Cotton Mill. 

Be it enacted hij the General Asscmhy of tlic State of Indiana: That C. T. 
James, E. M. Hiuitingtnn, Hamilton iSinith, S. P. Chase, .lames Boyd, Jacob 
Beclvwith, Thomas M. ymith, James Low, liandall Crawford, Pearly ^Cham- 
berlain, and John N. Ureden, tlu.ir assoiriates, successors, and a.ssigns, be and 
they are hereby m'ule a corporation, by the name oC the "Cantidtun Cotton 
jyiUl," for the purpose of nianiiracturing cottmi and oilier good.'*, at the town of 
Cannelton in the connty of Perry, Indiana, and for tliis purpose sh;ill have nil 
the powers and privileges, and be snbject to all tiie duties and requisitions con- 
tained in the statute of 1843, Chapter '32, Article second, respecting corpora- 
tions. 

Beit further enacted: That the capita! .stock of said corporation shall not ex- 
ceed five hnndred thousand dollars, and that the said corporation may be lawr- 
I'nlly seized and possessed of such real estate as n,;iy be necessary and conven- 
ient for the purposes aforesaid, not cxcei;ding ihe value of fifty ihoiisand dol- 
lars e.xclusive of buildings and improvements that may be made by the corpo- 
ration. 

This act shall t;ike effect and be in force as a public act during the term of 
fifty years, from and after its passage, unless s.iid corporation shall sooner he 
voinntardy dissolved by the stockholders., of which due public notice shall be 
given. 

(Signed ) WILLI AIM A. PORTER, 

Speaker of the House of Representatives. 
PARIS C. DUNNING, 

Speaker of the Senati:. 
Approved, FebV 15. IP48. 

(Signed.) JAS. WHITCOMB. 
Originated in the House of Representatives, 

(Signed,) m. s. ward, cl'k. 

STATE OF INDIANA: 

I, John II. Thompson. Secretary of State, for the State 
aforesaid, do hereby certify that the fnrcgoing is an entire and correct copy of 
an act entitled an '"yVet to iiicopcrate the Cannelton Cotton Mill," taken from 
the original cnrolhaent. now on file in my ofiice. In testimony whereof, I 
have set my hand, and affi.xed the seal of ihe State, at Indi;iiiapolis. the 15th day 
of February, A. D. 1848. JUllN H. THOMPSON. 

Secretary of State. 
By W. R. SxK.i^.NGE, Deputy. 



The Cannelton Cotton Mill, was fully organized on the 22d of Sept., 1848, 
by election of the following ofiicers and directors, 

DiKKCTORS; 

WILLIAM RICHARDSON, Pres. ALFRED TIIRUSTON, Treas. 
CHARLES W. SHORT, WM. F. PCTTIT, 

LEWIS RUFFNF.R, JAMES C FORD, 

PEARLY CHAMBERLAIN, T. C. COLEMAN. 

OLIVER J MORGAN, of WILLIAM McLANE, of 

Carroll Parish, La. Hedfbrd, Ind. 

HAMILTON SMITH, Secretary. 



Ten other charters similar to this in form and for different manufac 
(uring purposes in Perry county are under the control of the Coal Com- 
pany, and are offered, free of charge, to companies who may select this 
county for their operations. 




iflliiiiB'iPilP! 



107 

This edifice is mow complete and is receiving its machinery. The 
chimney, 100 feet high, stands at a distance of 20 feet from ^the left 
wing and is made of cut stone, corresponding with that in the main 
building. 

It is believed that this is the best, and, (all things considered,) the 
cheapest cotton mill of the size jn the United States. 

Its outline and tinisli give it the appearance of an extravagant work, bnt the 
clieapness! with which the material is ohtained and worked (7 cents per super- 
licial foot, "bod and hiiild" for dressing); tlie great sohdify and (hirability which 
is required for heavy machinery, and iiere obtained by large; blocks ol' Ktone, 
and the convenient uses to wliich the towers are put, make it an ccouoniica! 
building. There is, of course, the greatest ellectiveness and the least deterior- 
ation ot machinery in the most solid building, and the profits of a cotton mill 
depend very nuich on the permanency and eilectiveness of the machinery. 

In one of the towers are wide and easy .stairways that secure entire safety 
!or operatives in every room in case of tire; in the other arc water closeii4 
opening into each room, and between are large doors through which maciiine- 
ry, furniture, &c., can be received into each story. Perfect ventillation is ob- 
t;unt>d by a draught fr(un each room downward through tl;e water closets and 
vault and by a tunnel from the vault to the bottom of the chimney. This con- 
nection is opened at the close of work, morning and evening, and the draught 
is .-udicieully powerful to draw the floating particles of cotton in the aitie 
downwards and then upwards through the chiumey. Tims the ornamental 
parts of the building have been made subservient to the uselul. 

The mill is heated by steam pipes, and eventually will be lighted with gas; 
the fire apparatus is connected with the engine, well, cisterns in the rear, in 
the attic and in the tower. Sufficient hose will connect with w'ater plugs in 
each room. The well is 14 feet in diameter, and as is believed, will give an 
ample supply of water at all times, but to guard against all accidents, large cis- 
terns in the rear will be kept full of water. Cheap fuel will enable the com- 
pany to keep up a head of steam during the night sufficient to set the fire 
apparatus at work in a i'ew minutes. In the right wing is the agents office 
and the willow and picker rooms in the" basement, and in the other win'^ 
the boilers, office and cloth rooms. The roofs are covered with tin; the cor- 
nices and guttering are of stone; the main building and wings are as near iire- 
[)roof as practicable. A fire-proof warehouse for cotton and cloth is to be put 
up in the rear of the mill. 

The plans and arrangements of the mill were made by Gen. C. T. James, of 
It. I., and reflects great credit on his taste and skill. He is also contractor for 
i!ic entire machinery, most of which was made at the well known establishment 
oi" W. Mason & Co., Taunton. Mass. 

The factory fronts the Ohio River, and is situated upon a lot comprisin" 
about eight acres, and is distant from the river bank about 300 jards. It is en- 
tirely above all inundations, and for pleasantness of locality cannot be sur- 
passed. Large and commodious boarding houses for the acconiinodation of 
the operatives are being erected near the mill, under the superintendance of 
Mr. Bucklin, of Providence, R. I. The machinery is now being placed in 
the mill, andVill be completed during the suuuner. The overseers, engineers, 
uiachiuists. r i*fl a large parr of the operatives have been and will be selected 
from the b;>gt.mills in New England. In a few months, as is believed, this mill 
will be turmiig out as large a product as any similar mill in the world. 



LIST OF STOCKHOLDERS OF CANNELTON COTTON MILL. 

eannelton Cotton Mill. — It has lieen shown that Cannelton has superior natural adtantaet!, 
for a manufac '.uring city to any other of which we now have any kiiowletlge. To develop* 
these advaiita<es, we ouly require the aid of men of character, intelligence and capital. T» 



108 

show that such men arc already enlisted with us, wo siilijoin a list of the stockholders of the 
Caniieltun coltoii mill: 

Wiliaiii RicliurdMiii, Dr '^ harlns W. Slinrf, Hamilton Smith, I<ewis Ruffiier, Pearly Cham- 
berlain, VVm. F. Pelt it, Alfrud Tliriisluri, lloliinsoii, Poler A. Carey, llobinsDii &. Krothers, Jo- 
tepli S. Morris, Edwin Morris, Thomas C. Ciileiii.ui. James C.Furd, E. llutchiii^'s. Col. Thomas 
Anderson, Robert (i. Courtiiay, Jamrs II. Breed, Cul. Ste|ihiMi II. Long. '1\ G. Richardson, Ja- 
cob Beckwitli, Samuel L. Niick, Jolin L.ftlirtin, Tiiomas E. VVi son, Willis Ranuey, Wm. A. 
Ricliardsoii, and Cliarlcs II. Lewis, Loi.isvdie, Ky.; J imes Boyd, Hon. E. M. Huntington, and 
J. B. Smith, Canneltoii, lud ; Cul. William McLane, Bedford, Ind.; lion. Rob't Dale Owen, and 
Dr. David D. Owen, New HariiioMy, Ind.; lliindal Crawford, New Albany, Ind.; Hon. O. J. Mor- 
gan, Carroll Parish, La.; lion. Henry Bry, ftlonroe. La.; Dr. M. J. Sellers, Providence, l.a ; Hon. 
Maunsel White, and I'. Y. Garble, New Oi leans, La ; Rt. Rev L. Polk, Tb bodeaii.willo. La.; 
Col. Wm. L. Caiiipbr-ll and Hon. Francis Griflin, Greenville, fliiss.: David Hunt, llodney, Miss.; 
John Hutchins and R.JM. Gaines, N.itcliez, Miss.; Charles T. James, Providence, R. I. 

The above list is unquestionaldy the strongest of its kind ever got up in the Missisippi valley. 
There is not on it the name of a '•speculator." livery name on it is that of a man of substance, 
who has money to invest every year. Most of these names repretent men of fortune, who 
have made their estates by habitual thrift. They have not taken hold of this thing to 
make a f incy stock, but to make a permanent investment. If this mdl jncets their expecta- 
tions, they are able and will bo ready to build another. Indeed, we have no question but that 
they are able to build and put in operutinn such a mill as this out of their annual surplus in- 
come, and we know that iVicssrs. Ford, Martin, Hunt, Bry, Morgan, Campbell. Grillln, Gaines, 
and Hutchins, could furnish a full supply ol cotton to this mill, out ol their surplus crop. The 
•officers of the company, who receive no emolument from their offices, own about $It. 0,000 of 
the stock, 'i'he contractor for the macliinery has not only invested over $30,000 in and about 
the mill, but has invested tlierein his reputation as a manufacturer and mdl builder. He ha!) 
pledged himself to make this mill the best (i. e., most productive) of the kind in the world, and 
has slated that Cannelton is the best position now known for the establishment and opcratiou 
tif a cotton mill. 

Of these stOL-klioIders one is Col. S. H. Long, the distinguished head of the U. S. Topograph- 
ical Bureau in the V\'e-t, who is justly regarded as the able>t and mo.-t experienced civil eiigi- 
ueer in America. Another is Him. R. D.de Owen, who was once a co ton m nufacturcr in Scot- 
land, and whose extended observation in all the iinporiant manufacturing districts of the world 
fully qualifies him lo judge of our advantages. Another is Dr. D. D tie Owen, whose geological 
information, practical and scientific, is unsurpassed. To these high authorities we refer for the 
truth of our statements as to the superior advantages of our position. 

The Louisville stockholders are among the most promiiifiit and successful business men of 
that city, and are familiar with every ilepartment of Western finance, trade and commerce. 

In short, these stockholders are men who do not engage in any enterpri-e without due consid- 
eration, and who are sure to accompli.>h whatever tln'V iinderiake. They are men not to be 
discouraged by petty obstacles, and cannot be divertcil from their well considered purposes by 
the doubts of ignorance or the opposition of other interests. There is a certainty that ihey 
will luako all that can be made out of their advantages and operations here. 

[ Cannelton Kcomomiat. 



The Indiana Cotton Mill, with a charter and capital similar to that of the 
Canndtuii Cotton Mill, has been organized and will be pnt in operation as soon 
as practicable. This will make coarse goods, such as blaoliets, tickings, &c. 
James Boyd is President of this company. 



Immediately below Cannelton a town has been laid off by a company of 
Boston capitalists. The site of this town is favorable, the river privileges ex- 
cellent, and the coal lies convenient. From the energy and means of the gen- 
tlemen engaged in tliis movement, it will doubtless be attended with large 
results. 



Still further below, and near Troy, Messrs. S. Casseday, W. Garvin, Wi 
Bell, E. T. Bainbridge and P. Chamberlain, have a valuable site and mineral 
rights over an extended surface. Their charter, the Indiana Pottery Company, 
is of the most favorable character. This comp my commenced operations in 
1838, but in consequence of ditf culties in obtaining operatives from England, 
suspended operations after a year's trial and renied its property. James Nix- 
on is the present lessee, and now employs 10 hands in making coarse ware. 



I'lie 02)iuioiis of tliese gentlemen, in connection vvitli the statements of dis- 
igiiished raanuCacturers, geologists and engineers in tiie pamphlet, arc, as in 
believed, suflicieut to sustain tlie high claims of Cannelton as a most favorablp 
site for maniifactnrcs. II. S. 



Lafayette, July 4, 1850. 

Deak Siu: I acknowledge the receipt of the pamphlet entitled 
"Cannelton, &c." I appreciate the facts most fully, anjd, with an inti- 
.nate knowledge of the resources of that section of our State lying on 
the Ohio River, I hesitate not to recommend to the attention of capital- 
ists the undertakings you have there commenced. If manufactures can 
tlourish in the United States, they must succeed at Cannelton, where 
■here are so many advantages in abundant raw mateiial, economical 
power, and facilities for labor. 

Respectfully Yours, 

H. L. ELLSWORTH. 
Hamilton Smith, Esq. 



New Harmony, Ind., June 17, 1850. 

Sir: — I have received, and read with pleasure, your pamphlet on the 
Natural Advantages for manufacturing of Cannelton, and heartily con- 
cur in the general correctness of the facts and inferences therein pre- 
sented. 

As early as the year 1838, when engaged, as Geologist of Indiana, in 
an examination of her Mineral resources, I expressed the opinion that, 
here, as in England and other portions of Europe, on the coal measures 
is the true basis of successful manufacturing enterprise and industry; 
and that on the margin of our coal formation is to be found what may 
emphatically be termed the mineral region of this State. These con- 
siderations point to Cannelton and a kw other locations in its vicinity, 
on the eastern margin, also to a narrow belt between Skawneetown and 
the mouth of the Cumberland, on the western margin of the great Illi- 
nois coal field, as the most promising sites on the lower Ohio, for man- 
ufacturing and mining purposes. 

Potter's clay, and especially fire clays, are cornmonly found as- 
sociated with ^hose argillaceous strata which embrace the best seams of 
coal; and this, in an economical point of view, is no inconsiderable 
item. I am, Sir, your ob't serv't, 

D. D. OWEN. 

I concur in the views above expressed by my brother, Dr. Owen. 

ROB'T DALE OWEN. 

To Hamilton Smith, Esq., 
Louisville. 



Louisville, July 5, 1850. 

Sir: The topographical surveys made by me at and near Cannelton, 

gave me a fall opportunity of examining the advantages of that locality 

for manufacturing purposes, which, as I think, are correctly stated in the 

foregoing pamphlet. Taking into view the depth of water along the 



shore, the elevation of a large portion of the town site above the level ot 
the highest .'reshets, the character of its building materials and the abun- 
dance and convenience of its bituminous coal, I am decidedly of the 
opinion that the resources of Cannelton for manufacturing purposes are 
superior to those of any other position in the West of which I have any 
knowledge. Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

CHAS. A. FULLER, 
United States Civ. Engineer. 
To the President of the Am. Can. Coal Co. 



Louisville, July 5, 1850. 

1 fully concur in the opinions expressed by Capt. Fuller in the fore- 
going note. Several years since, Gen. Armistead, Surgeon Gen. Law- 
son, and myself, were directed by the Secretary of War to examine the 
country adjacent to the navigable rivers of the West, with a view to the 
selection of the most suitable site for a Western armory. The nature, 
character, and extent of supplies of alJ kinds, required for carrying on 
manufacturing operations, \ieve objects claiming our particular attention. 
The means of procuring the requisite mechanical power, and especially 
the relative economy of water power and steam power, were carefully 
investigated. The results obtained, in this last respect, showed conclu- 
sively, that steam power, generated by the combustion of bituminous 
coal, at ten cents per bushel, would be more economical, as well as 
more manageable in all respects, than water power, at any site that 
could be found within the extensive region examined. These results, 
together with numerous others relating to supplies of all kinds, commer- 
cial facilities, centrality of positions, &c., &o., were communicated to 
Congress through the War Department, eai iv in 1843. (See House 
Doc, No. 441, 1844.) 

The site selected was that of Fort Massac on the lower Ohio. Li 
the estimation, particularly of Gen. Armistead and mysell, ihe advanta- 
ges centering at this point, all things considered, were greater than those 
that could be brought to bear on any other site, by reason mainly, that 
all needful supplies could be brought hither, from the vast region drained 
by the Ohio, upper Mississippi and Missouri rivers, by descending navi- 
gation. While the fabrics manufactured thereat, could be distributed 
thence through navigable channels, to all parts of the vast region situa- 
■ed. between the Gulf of Mexico, and the northern boundary of the 
United States. 

With respect to the economy of steam power at Cannelton, the cost 
of bituminous coal for its maintenance, to the fullest extent required for 
manufacturing operations, will be less than one half of that adopted as 
;he standard of comparison in arriving at the results above mentioned; 
while the facilities of obtaining provisions and raw materials of all sorts, 
at this locality, though slightly less considerable in some respects, are 
quite equal in • hers, and in very many instances superior to those that 
can be had ai Massac, or any other point on the Western waters, as 
you have shown with sufficient clearness, in the statistical views of the 
foregoing pamphlet. Very respectfully, sir, your ob't serv't, 

STEPH. H. LONG, 
Superintendent W. R, Imp'ts, &c. 

To Hamilton Smith, Esq., Louisville, Ky. 




^'W 






